World's oldest computer is more ancient than first thought:
Antikythera Mechanism was created in 205 BC, study claims
고대 컴퓨터 '안티키테라' 100년 더 오래됐다.
This is according to Argentinian scientists who found eclipse calendar The calender included a solar eclipse that happened on May 12, 205 BC Previous radiocarbon dating analysis of had dates mechanism to 100 BC The study suggests the maths it uses is based is Babylonian arithmetic It predates other known examples of similar technology by 1,000 years
일식력을 발견했던 아르헨티나 과학자에 의하면
방사성분석으로 기원전 100년~150년전에 만들어진 것으로 알려졌던
이 고대 컴퓨터는 그가 발견한 일식력에 기원전 205년 5월12일에 발생한
일식이 포함되어 있어 100년 정도 더 오래된 것으로 조사됐다.
안티키테라 메커니즘 Antikythera Mechanism
BC1~2세기에 그리스에서 만들어진 고대 컴퓨터. 1901년 그리스 안티키테라섬 앞바다에 침몰한 로마시대의 난파선에서 발굴되었으며, 태양과 달의 움직임을 예측할 수 있고 달의 변칙적인 움직임까지 계산할 수 있는 것으로 알려졌다.장치의 제작자는 당대의 수학자이자 천문학자였던 히파르코스(Hipparchos)이거나 그와 관련이 있는 인물일 것으로 추정된다. 장치는 모두 82개에 이르는 청동조각으로 발견되었는데, 애초에는 37개의 청동기어로 이루어졌고 시계모양으로 된 앞과 뒤 2개의 면이 있었던 것으로 보인다. 가로 31.5cm, 세로 19cm, 두께 10cm인 나무상자 안에 들어 있었고, 상자의 문에는 사용법이 적혀 있었으며 손으로 크랭크를 돌리는 방식으로 작동하였을 것으로 추정된다.
3차원 X레이 컴퓨터 등으로 조사한 결과 고대 그리스인들의 천문관측기구로 밝혀졌으며 4년마다 윤년을 계산해 넣는 '365일 달력' 역할과 사로스주기(일식과 월식의 순환주기)에 따라 일식과 월식을 예측하였다. 이와 함께 수성, 금성 등의 운동과 달이 지구 둘레를 타원궤도로 돌면서 생기는 변칙적인 움직임(anomaly)까지도 미리 알 수 있다고 한다
The rusty bronze fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, the world's oldest computer, are 100 years older than scientists previously thought.
This is according to Argentinian researchers who found that an eclipse prediction calendar - a dial on the back of the mechanism - includes a solar eclipse that happened on May 12, 205 B.C.
Previous radiocarbon dating analysis of the remarkable mechanism had provided a later construction date of around 100 to 150 BC.
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The Mechanism (pictured) was recovered from a Roman cargo shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera. Previous studies have shown it was used to chart the movement of planets and the passing of days and years. Scans in 2008 found that it may also have been used to predict eclipses
The study, by the National University of Quilmes, suggests that the process in which the computer predicts eclipses is Babylonian arithmetic, rather Greek trigonometry.
This ancient device 'predates other known examples of similar technology by more than 1,000 years,' according to a report by John Markoff in the New York Times.
The highly complex mechanism, made up of up to 40 bronze cogs and gears, was used in ancient times to track the cycles of the solar system.
It was recovered in 1900 from the Antikythera wreck - a Roman cargo shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera.
Scans of the mechanism in 2008 found that it may also have been used to predict eclipses, and record important events in the Greek calendar, such as the Olympic Games.
The scans also revealed the mechanism was originally housed in a rectangular wooden frame with two doors, covered in instructions for its use.
At the front was a single dial showing the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar.
On the back were two further dials displaying information about lunar cycles and eclipses. The calculator would have been driven by a hand crank.
Earlier this year, an expedition led by the Greek government returned to the ancient shipwreck of Antikythera using the Exosuit - a state-of-the art, deep sea diving suit
Antikythera (highlighted) which now has a population of only 44, was once one of antiquity's busiest trade routes, and a base for Cilician pirates, some of whom once captured and held the young Julius Caesar for ransom. He later had them all captured and crucified
The device could track the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - the only planets known at the time, the position of the sun, and the location and phases of the moon.
The researchers have been able to read all the month names on a 19-year calendar on the back of the mechanism.
Scientists have suggested that the mechanism might have been somehow linked to Archimedes, after a study found that language inscribed on the device.
The inscriptions suggested it had been manufactured in Corinth or in Syracuse, where Archimedes lived.
But Archimedes was killed in 212 B.C., while the ship carrying the device is believed to have sunk between 85 and 60 B.C.
'If we were all taking bets about where it was made, I think I would bet what most people would bet, in Rhodes,' Alexander Jones, a specialist in the history of ancient mathematical sciences told New York Times.
Earlier this year, an expedition led by the Greek government returned to the ancient shipwreck of Antikythera using the Exosuit - a state-of-the art, deep sea diving suit.
The group used the Exosuit to more than double the depth they can dive at, and stay safely at the bottom for longer. They brought back tableware, parts of the ship and a bronze spear. The now plan to dive again next spring in the hopes of uncovering more clues about the Antikythera Mechanism's history.
