The Antikythera Mechanism - The World’s First Prototype Pocket Watch!C2 

Over the years many devices have been uncovered as human civilization continues to examine our history, none have given scientists such befuddlement as the Antikythera mechanism; aptly named such because it was found on the Antikythera wreck, and to this day no one knows exactly what it was made for, or what it does. What little is known about the strange device leaves us even more puzzled and with more questions than are answered.

It is known that one of its many purposes is to predict astrological events, like solar eclipses; lending to the initial thought it was used for navigation, however even the most mentally challenged captain wouldn’t have taken this item on a ship, because its very nature would render it useless before the end of a single voyage, as it would have rusted and become immobile. Its diminutive size lends to the belief that it is portable, but its function would not be of any use to travel, as it has to be aligned in a specific direction to perform its known task, and as such would be better off if stationary. The device itself is overly complex, containing many gears and cogs working together to perform a task so simple, that hand tools, an almanac, a compass, and a sextant could accomplish them, and in retrospect several of which would be needed to secure proper placement. Quite simply, this thing changes its mind so often it may as well be a woman.

Dubbed the first computer ever, the Antikythera mechanism is believed to have been created in 150 BC, which correlates with the shipwreck it was found on, even though this is clearly a device that has no purpose on a ship. Its level of sophistication and technology however, is comparable to the skill and craftsmanship of early 17th century clocks and mechanical calendars. The fact that it was most likely built by Archimedes tells us that this could have in fact, been a time travelling device, because his staggering understanding of science and physics was so advanced he had to have been able to travel to the future. Its styling and function closely mimic some of his other creations, and were referenced in texts found in surviving texts from the Library of Alexandria.

The Antikythera Mechanism has over 30 gears, although some have speculated that it had as many as 72 gears, all in various sizes. When a user turned the crank to enter a specific date, the mechanism calculated the position of the Sun, Moon, the location of other planets and other heavenly bodies. The device, which was based on the geocentric of the universe, was able to calculate this data based on the user’s position on the earth. The device itself has three dials, one on the front and two on the back, with the front having two concentric scales. The outer ring is marked off with the days of the 365 day Egyptian calendar, known as the Sothic year. The inside dial is marked with the Greek signs of the Zodiac and divided into degrees. The calendar portion of the dial can even be situated to compensate for the extra quarter day of the solar cycle that is responsible for leap year by turning the scale backwards one day every four years. This is equally as puzzling since the Julian calendar was the first to include leap years, but was not introduced until 50 BC to 40 BC, a full century after the device was said to have been built. This alone lends to the belief that there was either some time travelling going on, or, as in the TV show Futurama, Archimedes came from another planet. When it comes to this, I’m inclined to agree with either theory.

This device keeps track of so many occurrences, that it’s easy to understand why they call it a computer.  However, even though its craftsmanship and design are light years ahead of anything else, taking it on a ship is akin to installing windows on the thing, it’s bound to crash, and throws your entire system over the brink. Perhaps it’s merely by chance it happened on the ship wreck it’s named after. Maybe centuries after the ship sank; this amazing device fell out of some amazing spacecraft or flying machine and just happened to drift into the same area as the wreckage.  An even stranger thought is that perhaps this is the lost city of Atlantis’ idea of a practical joke, and they’ve been storing broken household items in deep sea wrecks for years just waiting for us to become so baffled we can’t help but to keep throwing money at it to see what happens.

The great thing about looking back on the past and speculating is that regardless, there’s no way to prove which theory is correct, or there would be no reason for or excitement in looking into it. It’s clearly evident that people will draw their own conclusions no matter how far-fetched they are, and when someone disproves their theory, they still won’t admit that they were wrong, and instead will simply state, “ New ideas are formed with new data,” which is science geek talk for, “I was wrong because I didn’t do all my homework”.