He found the Antikythera Mechanism was a “singular artifact…. The oldest existing relic of scientific technology, and the only complicated mechanical device we have from antiquity.

Built some time between 200 BC and 60 BC, the Antikythera mechanism is the oldest known computer mechanism in existence. This ancient, geared device for tracking the heavens is in pretty bad shape ...

It’s no surprise then that he’s interested in the Antikythera Mechanism—a small geared device discovered off the coast of the Greece in 1900 that is believed to be the first analog computer ...

And yet, they built. Granted, not every artifact was as complex as the Antikythera mechanism, but still, this ancient astronomical computer exists, and must have come from someone’s workshop.

Since its discovery over a century ago, the Antikythera Mechanism has had scholars scratching their heads over how the Greeks managed to build a mechanical computer. But now researchers claim that ...

A fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Photo courtesy of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.

We thought the world’s oldest known computer — the Antikythera Mechanism — was 2000 years old. Now we know it was antique even before it sank beneath the waves in a wrecked Roman ship.

In the past, with only analog technology, time and place required mechanical gearing. Below is a recreation of the Antikythera mechanism. The original Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in a ...

The wreck is best known for yielding a bronze astronomical calculator, the "Antikythera Mechanism" widely seen as the most complex device known from antiquity, along with dozens of marble and ...