Antikythera Mechanism: The 2,000-Year-Old Computer Explained

The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2,000-year-old ancient Greek computer found in a shipwreck in 1901. Here is what the evidence shows it did, how researchers worked it out, and what is still unproven. Sponge divers found it in 1900. X-rays revealed its gears. CT scans read its hidden inscriptions. And researchers are still arguing about its date, its calendar, and whether it even worked. This is the story of the evidence. CHAPTERS 0:00 The 2,000-Year-Old Computer 0:38 How the Antikythera Shipwreck Was Found 1:38 The First Gear Is Spotted (1902) 2:15 How X-Rays Revealed the Gears 3:07 The 2005 CT Scans and Hidden Inscriptions 4:04 What Did the Antikythera Mechanism Do? 5:40 Still Unsolved: Its Date, Calendar, and Did It Work? 7:25 Machines Like It: From Archimedes to Isfahan 8:10 Why History Means Inquiry SOURCES Freeth & Jones, The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism (ISAW Papers 4): https://dlib.nyu.edu/awdl/isaw/isaw-p... Freeth et al. (2008), Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator: https://fermatslibrary.com/s/decoding... Woan & Bayley (2024), calendar ring study, University of Glasgow: https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/329337