Antikythera Mechanism
Using the most modern x-ray technology and computer simulation the Antikythera Mechanism, found as a lump of corroded bronze in an ancient shipwreck, has been analyzed to the point a working replica can be made (expensively).
This mechanism, made earlier than 600 BCE, is an extremely sophisticated analog computer. It is much more complex than it would have to be today, because the Greeks considered the Earth to be the center, so precision gearing had to compensate for the erratic behavior of the planets as seen from the Earth, as well as the movement of the Sun and phases of the moon.
This, it has been found, was successfully done, to the point the computer could predict positions of the planets and dates of probable eclipses well into the future, with very impressive accuracy.
The article I have most recently read is in Current World Archaeology (a British publication). Their cover blurb is "Secrets of a technology that should not exist".
This mechanism, made earlier than 600 BCE, is an extremely sophisticated analog computer. It is much more complex than it would have to be today, because the Greeks considered the Earth to be the center, so precision gearing had to compensate for the erratic behavior of the planets as seen from the Earth, as well as the movement of the Sun and phases of the moon.
This, it has been found, was successfully done, to the point the computer could predict positions of the planets and dates of probable eclipses well into the future, with very impressive accuracy.
The article I have most recently read is in Current World Archaeology (a British publication). Their cover blurb is "Secrets of a technology that should not exist".
