Image Credit: The American Philosophical Society, 1974

The mechanism may be the first known computing device. Its function was apparently to show the relationships of the Sun, the Moon, and some of the planets, in relation to the Zodiac, displayed on three dials, one on the front, and two on the back. Also, the rising and setting of specific stars were thought to be indicated by the front dial.

New information came to light recently, reported in the science journal Nature on 30 November 2006.

Image Credit: A Reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism

Image Credit: The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project (copyright)
(The graphic above is resized to show the significant details)

. . . all thirty gears are linked and can be turned all at once by the rotation of any one gear in the system. I chose the blue (50) gear as a starting point and turned this gear exactly one-revolution or 360 degrees. The gematric formula for this angle is the sacred number 72,  times one half the metric standard 254
( 254/2 = 127 ):

. . . this angle is transferred to the second blue(50) gear because of its being self similar to the first blue(50) gear. This angle is also  transferred to the blue(32) gear because of a shared axle. The next step is the blue(32) gear's link to gear, blue(127). This link is the famous sacred Alautun time cycle number . . . 2304 . . . from Aztec and Mayan culture.

. . . that is when you turn the starter blue(50) gear 360 degrees, the blue(127) gear will turn 90.70866132 degrees. The blue(24) gear shares an axle with the blue(127) gear and thus shares the rotation of the blue(127) gear. Blue(24) gear then transfers this rotation to the blue(48) gear. This angle of rotation is the gematric number known as the Egyptian foot number . . . 1152 . . .

. . . blue(38) shares an axle with blue(48) and thus transfers this angle of rotation to the so-called Sun gear . . . yellow(64) . . . The number 19 appears here not as years of the Metonic cycle but as DAYS!! on the edge of gear wheels:

. . . all of the green gears share the same angle of rotation as the Sun gear. The orange gears appear when the second gear with 38 cogs appears as orange(38). It has the same angle of rotation as the blue(38) gear:

. . . orange(53) shares an axle with orange(38) and thus transfers this angle of rotation to orange(96)

. . . orange(15) and orange(27) gears share axles with orange(96) and thus transfers angular rotation to the large gear purple(223):

. . . purple(53) edges with purple(223) thus picking up an angular rotation of:

. . . purple(30) shares an axle with purple(53) and thus the same rotation. Purple(30) edges with purple(54) resulting in an angle turn of 7.086614166 degrees for purple(54):

 . . . three other gears share this angle of rotation and thus the same axle, purple(20), dk green(53), dk green(15). dk green(15) transfers the angle to gear dk green(60) and gear dk green(12) which shares an axle with dk green(60):

. . . dk green(12) transfers the angle of rotation to the last gear in the chain, dk green(60)

. . . showing the angles of rotation in spreadsheet form: cl = clockwise, ccl counterclockwise

. . . how does  this data relate to the earth-moon interaction? One can observe that the last gear in the chain of 360 degree rotation, blue(32) . . . if one makes this gear analogous to the moon lunar cycle . . . 29.530588 days in one orbit around earth, then blue (32) and the lunar cycle share an axle that rotates 360 degrees. Transferring this 360 degree rotation of the lunar cycle to the earth cycle around the sun . . . 365.246743 days in one tropical year,  on this earth cycle axle, place the 5 sets of 47 (235) markings of the exterior dials of the device on the earth axis of rotation and multiply by the metric m:

. . . this is exactly the angle turned by the sun gear when the blue(50) gear is rotated once!! Checking the number constants I wanted to see if the number 37 is anywhere in the angles of rotation or in the gear numbers. Strangely it sits at the heart of the Earth/Moon link. When the lunar cycle 29.530588 days is rotated once (360 degrees) on the Earth cycle . . . 365.246743 days . . . an angle of rotation is generated on the Earth cycle rim:

. . . 37 derives this angle through the 47 markings on the outside dials of the device:

. . . which means the 37 form can generate the sun gear angle for all of the green gears:

. . . are the other planets represented on the Antikythera mechanism? The set up is related to the gematric numbers . . . 1152, 2304, 180, 36 . . . etc . . . multiplied by the modern metric to inch conversion constant . . . m = 39.3700787 / ( 10 ^ 3 ) . . . and the gear numbers are representing the symbolic and correct gear ratios of the Sun, Moon, and Earth associations to their respective orbits around the sun measured in Earth days. The critical measure here is the association of the gear cogs in the wheels to planetary orbits measured in Earth days. Other than the moon, the brightest planets in the sky and their Earth day measured tropical year in one orbit are as follows: (Wikipedia)

Links

The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

The Antikythera Computing Device
The Most Complex Instrument of Antiquity

Antikythera mechanism (Wikipedia)

Antikythera Mechanism
Strange Artifacts

Gears from the Greeks
The Antikythera Mechanism - an ancient astronomical computer?
(many closeup photos)

Methods of Computed Tomography for the Antikythera Mechanism

A Reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism

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Ancient Numbers

Ancient Weights, Volumes & Measurements

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If you have any questions about this article, contact Joseph E. Mason at jmason4557@aol.com

This article was originally uploaded on January 18, 2007.

This article was last updated January 21, 2007.

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