| | Original photo by REUTERS/ Alamy Stock Photo |
| The Antikythera Mechanism is a 2,000-year-old "computer" from ancient Greece. | The Antikythera Mechanism is one of the most astounding archaeological finds in history. Discovered within the ruins of an ancient Greco-Roman shipwreck first found by sponge divers in 1900, it was brought to the surface the following year as part of the world's first major underwater archaeological excavation. At first, the mechanism — in dozens of corroded, greenish pieces of bronze — was more or less overlooked in favor of the many bronze and marble statues, coins, amphorae, and other intriguing items the shipwreck contained. But in the 1950s, science historian Derek J. de Solla Price took particular interest in the machine, convinced that it was in fact an ancient computer. In the early 21st century, advanced imaging techniques have proved Price correct.
Of course, this wasn't a digital creation, but an analog computer, likely dating to around the first century BCE. Although only portions of the original device survive, scientists have been able to piece together its original function. About the size of a mantle clock, the Antikythera Mechanism was a box full of dozens of gears with a handle on the side. When the handle turned, the device calculated eclipses, moon phases, the movements of the five visible planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — and more. It even included a dial for the timing of the ancient Olympics and religious festivals. Nothing else like it is known from antiquity, and nothing like it shows up in the archaeological record for another 1,000 years. Scientists aren't sure exactly who made the device, although the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus has been suggested as the creator, and the famed mathematician and inventor Archimedes may also have been involved. While its origin will likely remain a mystery, the mechanism's purpose has only grown clearer with time — and its existence has completely altered our understanding of the history of technology.
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 | | Steam power is 2,000 years old. | | |
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| Steam power is 2,000 years old. |  |  |
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