The Antikythera device: Some not so obvious "implications" resulting from it's very existence., page 2

reply to post by tauristercus

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Again, starred and flagged.

You are right when you say that you cannot look at this device without gaining some insight into the technological foundations of a society that could produce it.

To plot celestial motions with huge monoliths and exhaustive human resources is one thing; to make a device that is that compact and accurate is orders of magnitude higher in achievement than simple physical labor and observation.

It is obvious that whoever made this device possessed a skill rivaling our own, at least up to the 1800's.

I guess the big question is what happened to that society?

The Romans had some amazing and ingenious mechanical workings, before the fall of their empire.

It's not much different, though, than the little sheets you can get from a book or astronomy store with a slide wheel that you shift to show the different times of year and star formations.

This is a place to get started, follow up with the links at the bottom.
Look up Hero of Alexandria as well.

reply to post by tauristercus

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I agree with you,.
I find it very intriguing that this knowledge was nearly buried in history.
For me it ties in with the plausibility that there was such a place such as
Atlantis, as that place was fabled as being of a higher intelligence.

Also, though it may seem off topic,. it could also give a plausibility to the
ancient stories of there being entire civilizations destroyed over night in what
the Mayans told in their stories as we are entering the next stage, after the destruction
of this time we are in.


We find remains of entire civilizations buried under rock and sea as if it happened in a flash.
Who were the designers of the Antikythera? and where is the history of the makers?
as we continue to find new history,. it only raises more questions and changes more history.

reply to post by tauristercus

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Dear OP - I am afraid the conclusions you draw from you 4 points are hinting of a little lack of basic knowledge of history of the antiquity...
Mainstream historians have known for a very long time that the greeks (and many others too) had vast knowledge - scientific, mathematical, astronomical, economical, and technical. This is old news, and has been covered by scholars for ages
The greeks are the "inventors" of mathematics, the coined the very term "Planet", they theorized about the existence of the atom - etc, etc, etc
This device (if it even works) does not surprise me at all, and was certainly within the capabilities of the ancients - nothing new or "wow" about it.
The ancient greeks calulated the circumference of our earth (yes they thought is was a round globe...) to an extremely accurate degree. They way they did it was a simple as it was genious.
What we need to realise is that in antiquity the upper class had vast resources, ample time, and all sorts of speculations, art, experiments, etc were highly encourage

Sorry - though I know I am probably in for a round of slamming on this thread no doubt...

reply to post by tauristercus

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Good thread, we cannot consider the device in isolation. Especially, it does not make sense for someone to build a highly sophisticated machine only to calculate eclipses. The basic idea of using gears to do mathematical computations is highly revolutionary for the time frame under considerations and why we dont see evidences for other uses is really puzzling. Also we must compare the number systems used in ancient greek/roman against that which is really required to construct such devices. That would give us clues on the origins of the theory behind the technology.

reply to post by Timetraveller

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Actually, it does make sense. Using the knowledge of celestial occurrences and constructing events related to them has been used in many cultures by elites to "wow", threaten and subjugate the "profane" masses.

reply to post by tauristercus

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The Greeks WERE that Intelligent though. We already know that. maybe your idea of the Greeks is a bunch of temple building, play writing silly kids, but they were far more than that. The Minoans, for example. We are only 300 or so years ahead of them. The Romans, for another example. We are only 200 years ahead of them. They had brain and eye surgeries, rebar for concrete. BTW, their concrete was also strong than ours. They had cranes, gears, math, etc etc. The only thing they did not have was knowledge that electricity was a tool to be used. That alone sets them behind us.

reply to post by tauristercus

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This discovery, along with practically every other discovery of an ancient civilization, tells me that our scientific community is on the wrong path.

These days, gazing upon the stars is a dated practice, laughable at best by chemists and physicists alike. But tell me, what "advanced" civilization didn't pay close attention to celestial bodies? Seems to me that every culture payed VERY close attention to the stars, so much so that one could say there is more to them than meets the eye.

Yet, astrology is laughed at instead of scrutinized...

The Mechanism was built by Greeks, not because i say so, but because the inscriptions on it are in Greek.

See the link below, for photographs of the incriptions.

Inscriptions On the Antikythera Mechanism

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