Skip to main content

Decoding an ancient computer

Concordia engineering professor to introduce film on famed Antikythera Mechanism
October 31, 2012
|
By Tom Peacock


Georgios Vatistas, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Concordia, becomes animated when speaking about the ancient object known as the Antikythera mechanism.

Georgios Vatistas
Georgios Vatistas

“It’s a computer,” he says of the small device dating from the 1st century B.C. “It’s not made from electronic parts, it doesn’t make calculations at the speed of light, but nevertheless, it is a computer,” he repeats with conviction.

Vatistas bases his assessment on the complexity of the device that’s no larger than a shoebox. “It took around 1,500 years for Europeans to come up with something even close, but not nearly as elaborate,” he says.

Scientists have been studying the Antikythera Mechanism since the early 20th century when fisherman diving for shellfish discovered it off the tiny island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea. But it was only recently that an international team of scientists managed to unlock the mysteries of its many complicated gears.

Using sophisticated X-ray machines and imaging devices, the scientists were able to figure out that the ancient analog computer was designed to calculate the astronomical positions of the planets, the sun, and the moon in relation to Earth.

Caption
The ancient object known as the Antikythera mechanism dates from the 1st century B.C. | Image courtesy of The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

Vatistas says that when scientists unlocked the machine’s extraordinary complexity and accuracy, it forced them to reassess what they thought they knew about the history of technology. “It indicates the technical sophistication of the ancients,” he says. “It shows the technical result of a lot of previous knowledge.” 

This Thursday at 7 p.m., during the fourth annual Montreal Greek Film Festival, Vatistas will introduce a screening of the documentary, The Antikythera Mechanism, produced by scientist Tony Freeth. The film follows Freeth and an international team of scientists as they use sophisticated modern technology to decode the device.

“Here was Greek genius at its height,” says leading Antikythera scientist Alexander Jones during the film. “The great and divine cosmos represented through mechanism by scientists who wished to show that there was no mathematical challenge beyond their abilities.”

If the ancient Greeks were able to produce an analog computer no larger than a shoebox that could predict solar eclipses many decades before they occurred, what else were they capable of? Are there even more intelligent devices buried in the sands off the Greek Islands?

Vatistas doesn’t doubt it. The Antikythera mechanism is an amazing testament to the scientific knowledge of the ancient Greeks, but he says he’s sure there’s more to it than is already known, and that the history of technology as we know it will continue to change. “We’ve just scratched the surface,” he says.

What: Screening: The Antikythera Mechanism
When: 7 p.m., November 1, 2012
Where: Cinema du Parc, 3575, Park Ave. Montreal

Related Links:
•    Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
•    Montreal Greek Film Festival
•    Cinema du Parc
•    The Antikythera Mechanism (film)





 

 



Back to top

© Concordia University