Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism. Lecture at UT Aug 31, 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. Room 405 Ferris Hall

Submitted by Forrest_Erickson on Tue, 08/28/2007 - 20:47.

An intersting lecture this Friday.
DATE August 31
Fridays, 12:20 to 1:10 p.m.
Room 405 Ferris Hall

SPEAKER AND TOPIC
Dr. J. Reece Roth, Professor Emeritus, UT Plasma Sciences >Laboratory: ?Gears from the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism and the Early >History of Computer Science?. Nautical Archaeologists recently made a discovery that extended the history of computer science back to circa 80 BCE.
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in an ancient shipwreck, and is the only such geared mechanical device known for at least the next 1000 years. It consists of a clockwork ? like mechanism containing more than 30 toothed gears, including a system of differential gears. This early calculator has been the subject of intense scholarly research to determine what it is and what it was intended to do. It has been found that this device was used to calculate, among other things, lunar eclipses and planetary positions. It is already clear that computer science has deeper historical roots than previously realized.

> J. Reece Roth, Ph.D.
> Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering

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Interesting. Learn something
Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 08/29/2007 - 04:57.

Interesting. Learn something new every day.

The device is displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and offered to the museum by Derek de Solla Price. Another reconstruction is on display at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana.

I also was unaware of the American Computer Museum in Montana.

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