The Antikythera Mechanism - 2D

More than 21 centuries ago, a mechanism of fabulous ingenuity was created in Greece, a device capable of indicating exactly how the sky would look for decades to come -- the position of the moon and sun, lunar phases and even eclipses. But this incredible invention would be drowned in the sea and its secret forgotten for two thousand years.

This video is a tribute from Swiss clock-maker Hublot and film-maker Philippe Nicolet to this device, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, or the world's "first computer". The fragments of the Mechanism were discovered in 1901 by sponge divers near the island of Antikythera. It is kept since then at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece.

For more than a century, researchers were trying to understand its functions. Since 2005, a pluridisciplinary research team, the "Antikythera Mechanism Research Project", is studying the Mechanism with the latest high tech available.

The results of this ongoing research has enabled the construction of many models. Amongst them, the unique mechanism of a watch, designed by Hublot as a tribute to the Mechanism, is incorporating the known functions of this mysterious and fascinating ancient Mechanism.

A model of the Antikythera Mechanism, built by the Aristotle University in Greece, together with the mechanism of the watch and this film in 3D are featuring in an exhibition about the Mechanism that is taking place in Paris, at the Musée des Arts et Métiers.

The original fragments of the Mechanism, its main models and the watch designed by Hublot are on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece.

[rlt]

It still amazes me that they could reconstruct it with nothing to go by but that corroded mess...truly brilliant on the part of the researchers...

[EagleScout]

Incredible. The ingenuity of ancient people is often underestimated.

[chrismorneau]

A feat of engineering not only for its time but the creation of the exact size of teeth and how many to get the exact rotations required to make everything work is just brilliant

[stunes]

Excellent video... Well laid out, straight to the point, no stupid ads, toned down complimentary music in the background. Yes we have a winner, and a pattern the rest of the YouTube videos should follow. This mechanism is an amazing find, lays bare the facts, that ancient peoples were intelligent, and understood more about cosmology than we realize

[BaSsGaZ]

What's amazing about this is not the device itself, but the science behind it. The knowledge they must've had about how things work.

[Mrmike]

Its kind of sad when you think of all the other inventions that were lost but never found. The chances of the Antikythera being found were so small it blows my mind.

[halfmoon]

Makes you wonder how much more old technology we lost.

[monkeysackskin]

The burning of the great library of Alexandria who knows what knowledge was lost. All knowledge of antiquity was stored there all gone in a single night

[Achilles]

Truly amazing!! The ancients were far more advanced in the classical sense than we think they were.

[robinmason]

Ships captain: Hey can I borrow your Antikythera mechanism for my next sailing journey? Inventor: No problem, just make sure you look after it, it took many people literally years to make. Okay? Ships Captain: Yeah yeah, I promise

[F-Man]

It really makes one wonder how many other devices like this may have been out there. This is literally a computer, produced over 2, 000 years ago. Surely, it must have been unfathomably expensive to produce and to obtain, but, if somebody could produce one, surely there were other such devices.

The ancients were nowhere near as primitive as many would believe.

[asid]

I believe they had to cut all the gears by hand and with files back in those days. Incredible worksmanship must have gone into this.

[kguyx]

It's frustrating to think of the knowledge from ancient civilizations that was lost.  Civilization does not progress in an orderly  way, but advances and falls back.  The usual cause of this is war and the suspicion of knowledge.  Examples of the set backs to human progress are to be found throughout history, but the destruction of the library at Alexandria is a striking example.  As Carl Sagan once remarked, (not quoting), had mankind avoided the wars that destroyed ancient knowledge,
today we might very well be voyaging among the stars. 

[MrAwrsomeness]

"The future ages will wonder at us, just as the current age marvels at us today " Ancient Greek saying

[surreycpr]

There must have been more than one of these - Also there must have been predecessors and later additions. You don't just wake up one morning and build this, it's the product of the advancement of a technology that has to start with a much simpler device, just like our tech today.

[thewrngchild]

This mechanism was obviously built for someone pretty important, so you have to think who would hold important positions in Greece at the time it was made. The fact it was found among other works of art suggests this to be almost certainly the case. It was built for someone who collected fine arts, but unlike statues and other treasures, this item had many purposes other than just aesthetic. The original idea is likely to have come from someone wanting convenience, and a practical purpose for the device. An astronomer maybe?. It's workings have far more in common with clocks and clock making than anything previously used for astronomical purposes as it did not keep time, but it was designed to predict events in time, such as eclipses, Olympic Games, moon phases and other astronomical data. It may have had some religious function too, such as predicting moon phases for religious celebrations or important religious events. I just wish it had reached it's intended owner, then we would have the full, working mechanism, but I think the scientists who have and still are researching this are doing a fantastic job using modern technology to find out how this amazing item worked. Bringing in clock makers was also a very good idea, as they were able to compare it with modern day timepieces. This I feel was a timepiece, just not one for keeping time as we keep time in minutes, seconds, hours etc. People today have a primitive view of our ancient ancestors, and do not credit them with the credit they deserve. This is a work of genius, just because it does not have Einstein or Tesla's name on it does NOT make it any less genius.
Genius is something that has been with humans for as long as we have walked the Earth. The ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Mayans, Inca, Aztec etc, they ALL had genius. The Mayan time keeping system is another fascination, a it brings both religion and practicality together, something people today struggle to do. Whoever made this will sadly probably never be credited with the credit they deserve. So instead of thinking of our ancestors carrying clubs and living in caves, or being dirty, uncivilized people, think of them just as we see ourselves today, because one day, we too will be ancient peoples, being studied and wondered over, just as we do these great civilizations. 

[dejected]

Can you imagine the devastation of the inventor when he found out his Antikythera machine had sunken to the bottom of the sea from a common shipwreck.

[BudahOfBirmingham]

I think the fact that the ancients could produce such small mechanisms, tiny teeth and gears is astonishing

[etebol]

whoever invented this was also the first watchmaker ever; the gears are so much like the ones found inside watches

[sandramorey]

I love that the fine watch makers are interested in building a watch to be worn on the wrist from this machine. My dad, a watchmaker, would have been over the moon about this discovery.