How did the Greeks calculate in 100 BC

After thoroughly examining an artifact of the ancient Greek technology called Antikythera Mechanism, scientists discovered that the device not only predicted eclipses but also arranged the 4-year calendar of Olympiad, the predecessor of today's Olympic Games.

The new discovery, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, also shows that the machine's idea originated in the colony of Corinth, possibly Syracuse, in Sicily. Scientists say this refers to a relationship with AC Milan

Metro, lived in Syracuse and died in 212 BC, invented a cosmic model that calculated the movement of the moon and planets ; he wrote a lot of astronomical manuscripts. Some previous evidence points to the link between complex gear and watch face with Rhodes' island and astronomer Hipparchos, who has done research on the laws of onions. Moon's orbit process.

Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the first computer version, was restored more than a century ago from the wreckage of the sinking ship at the tiny island of Antikythera, north of Crete . Previous research has shown that the device could be built between the year 140 and 100 BC.

Only now, when applying high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray methods, experts can decipher the words written on the device and restore the function of the copper gears on the machine. . The most recent study revealed details of the watch face on the back of the tool, including the name of 12 months and the ancient calendar.

In the article, the research team led by mathematician and filmmaker Tony Freeth, from the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, in Cardiff, Wales, said: "The most surprising thing is that the names of the months ' are of Corinh origin. ' , this shows that it is ' Acropolis's legacy'.

Fragment of Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient astronomical machine built by the Greeks in 80 BC.It was discovered by divers on a wreck in 1900, scholars still do not understand the exact function of the device.

The researchers stressed that there were no known names on the Metonic calendar. This type of calendar, as well as other knowledge presented on the machine, illustrates the influence of Babylon astronomy on the Greeks. It was used by the Babylonians since the beginning of the fifth century BC.

Dr. Freeth, a collaborator of Images First Ltd., in London, explains in an e-mail that the Metonic calendar is designed to regulate the length of the lunar month with the calendar year. The 12 lunar months are 11 days missing in a year, but 235 lunar months fit in 19 years.

Dr. Freeth said: 'From here, it is completely possible to build a mathematical calendar that keeps the synchronization with both the sun and the moon'.

The device's connection to the Corithians was completely unexpected, the researchers said, because other goods on the shipwreck seemed to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean, places like Kos. , Rhodes and Pergamon. The months engraved on this tool perfectly match the calendar months from Illyria and Epirus in northwestern Greece and the island of Corfu. 7 months of that show the connection with Syracuse.

The inscriptions also indicate that one of the watch faces of the device is used to record the time of the four-year pan-Hellenic sport, which is considered by the Greeks to be 'the basic framework for the year. University'.

Dr. Freeth said: 'This machine still contains many mysteries' . Scientists and historians say one of the big questions that has not been answered is the role of the device in the development of Greek technology. Some of the instructions of similar devices appeared in ancient literature, including Cicero's description of a device built by Ac-met. But the machine, picked up in 1901, is the only artifact left.