Antikythera Mechanism – The World’s First Computer? | 119

Hysteria 51

Imagine finding shipwreck from thousands of years ago and among the rest of the debris finding a laptop with instructions on how to use it. That’s ALMOST exactly what happened when the Antikythera Mechanism was found. OK, so it wasn’t exactly a laptop, but many refer to it as the world’s first analog computer. And no matter how you classify it, it certainly doesn’t fit the time frame it dates back to. How did the ancient Greeks create a machine so advanced that another example of its intricacies wouldn’t be found in the world for another century and a half? We attempt to get to the bottom of it or at least blame the aliens this week. Plus, the fellas talk about THEIR first computer, we’re able to compare the mechanism to both a magic 8-ball and Grays Sports Almanac, and Conspiracy Bot quotes bad 90’s music. All of that and more on the podcast that’s never built a fully functional computing machine that can output correct data (but we have Conspiracy Bot) - Hysteria 51.
Special thanks to this week’s research sources:
Research Assistant - Raymond Walden IV
Books:
The Antikythera Mechanism: The History and Mystery of the Ancient World’s Most Famous Astronomical Device Kindle Edition by Charles River Editors
A Portable Cosmos: Revealing the Antikythera Mechanism, Scientific Wonder of the Ancient World by Alexander Jones
Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer--and the Century-long Search to Discover Its Secrets by Jo Marchant
Video:
Technological Marvels of the Ancient World Season 1 ep 3 - Computing
Michael Wright - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUibFQKJqI
Nova: Ancient Computer
Websites:
Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanismNova: Ancient Computer
The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project - antikythera-mechanism.gr
Mental Floss - http://mentalfloss.com/article/81445/15-intriguing-facts-about-antikythera-mechanism
The Smithson - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/decoding-antikythera-mechanism-first-computer-180953979/
Vox - https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/5/17/15646450/antikythera-mechanism-greek-computer-astronomy-google-doodle
Science Daily - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080731143422.htm
Live Science - https://www.livescience.com/55168-antikythera-mechanism-had-user-manual.html

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