Decoding the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism

Scientists are set to announce the findings of new research into this complex geared device, believed to be an astronomical calculator. Imaging and X-ray technologies are unraveling many of the Mechanism's remaining mysteries. Here's how....

By Network World Staff, Network World
November 22, 2006 02:37 PM ET

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Original bronze fragments of the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, including the largest, Fragment A (center). Together, some 85 fragments reveal a highly sophisticated mechanism with about 30 geared wheels and plates, apparently to calculate the time and positions of various planetary, solar, and lunar events.