Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries by Brian Haughton (beginner reading books for adults txt) 📕

was thus able to study the gears in great detail and found that the device would have been able to accurately replicate not only the motions of the sun and moon, but those of all the planets known to the ancient Greeks: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. So it is possible that by making use of bronze indicators on a circular face, which depict the constellations of the Zodiac around its edge, the mechanism would have been able to (fairly accurately) calculate the positions of the known planets for any

specific date. In September 2002, Wright's completed reconstruction went on display as part of the exhibition of Ancient Technology at Technopolis, a museum in Athens.

© Rien van de Weygaert, Kapteyn Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands. http: / /www.astro.rug.nl / -weygaert/antikytheramechanism.html.

Detail showing front dial of the device with ancient Greek inscription.

Despite the years of study and the various reconstructions and theories, nobody really knows how the Antikythera Device was used. It has been suggested that it had an astrological function and was used for computerized horoscopes, that it functioned as a planetarium for teaching purposes, or even that it was a complicated toy for the wealthy. Derek De Solla Price believed that the mechanism was evidence of an ancient Greek tradition of highly intricate mechanical technology. His opinion was that this skill and knowledge was not lost when ancient Greece went into decline, but was passed on through the Arab world, which possessed similar mechanisms at a later date, and became the foundation of European clock-making techniques in the Middle Ages. Price felt that originally the device had been permanently mounted, conceivably in a statue, and put on display. Perhaps it was once contained inside a structure similar to the intriguing Tower of Winds, an octagonal marble tower that functioned as a water-powered timepiece in the Roman agora at Athens.

© Rien van de Weygaert, Kapteyn Institute, Groningen, the Netherlands. http: / /www.astro.rug.nl/-weygaert/antikytheramechanism.html.

Detail showing doorplate of the device.

The discovery and reconstructions of the Antikythera Mechanism have also persuaded scholars to look at descriptions in ancient texts of such devices in a different light. Previously, it was believed that the mentions of mechanical astronomical models scattered over the works of several ancient writers should not be interpreted literally. The Greeks, it was

felt, had the theory, but not the mechanical knowledge. But after the discovery and testing of the Antikythera Mechanism, this line of thought will surely have to change. Roman orator and writer Cicero, writing in the first century B.C. and living at the time of the Antikythera shipwreck, mentions an invention of his friend and teacher, the previously mentioned Poseidonius. Cicero notes that Poseidonius had recently constructed a device "which at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the sun, the moon, and the five planets that take place in the heavens every day and night." Cicero also mentions that the Sicilian astronomer, engineer, and mathematician Archimedes (c. 287 B.c.-212 B.C.), "is said to have made a small planetarium." In connection with this device, the orator also remarks that the Roman consul Marcellus took great pride in the possession of a planetarium designed and built by Archimedes himself, which he had taken as booty from the captured city of Syracuse, on the eastern coast of Sicily. In fact, it was during this siege of this city in 212 B.C. that Archimedes was killed by Roman soldiers. Some researchers have even proposed that it was an astronomical device designed and built by Archimedes that was rescued from the Antikythera shipwreck. Without doubt, one of the most amazing and intriguing artifacts of the ancient world, the original Antikythera Mechanism is currently on display in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction. There is also a replica of the ancient device displayed at the American Computer Museum in Bozeman, Montana. The discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism has challenged our perception of the scientific and technological capabilities of the ancient world in no un

certain terms. Reconstructions have proven that the design functions as an astronomical computer, and shows that the scientists of the Greek and Roman world of the first century B.C. were perfectly capable of designing and building complicated mechanisms, which would not be equalled for 1,000 years. Derek De Solla Price commented that the civilization that possessed the technology and knowledge to construct such a mechanism "could have built almost anything they wanted to." Unfortunately, most of what they created has not survived. The fact that the Antikythera Mechanism is not specifically mentioned in any of the ancient texts that have come down to us proves how much has been lost from this important and fascinating period in European history. In fact, if it wasn't for the curiosity of Greek sponge fishermen more than 100 years ago, we would not even have this eloquent proof of the advanced scientific achievements of the Greeks of 2,000 years ago.

Ancient Aircraft

@ David Hatcher Childress

Strange hieroglyphs in the Temple of Osiris in Abydos.

On December 12, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first sustained and controlled flight by powered airplane in history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. At least, this is the accepted story. But had man mastered the power of flight much earlier, perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years earlier? Some researchers believe that there is evidence to suggest that this is indeed the case, but that the knowledge has been lost to history. The physical evidence for this ancient flight comes mainly in the form of enigmatic South American and Egyptian artifacts and Egyptian carvings.

The first examples are the so-called gold aircraft from Colombia. Some of these artifacts date to about A.D. 500 and are attributed to the Tolima culture, which inhabited the highlands of Colombia from around A.D. 200 to 1000.

Traditionally described by archaeologists as animal or insect figurines, the objects seem to display features compatible with airplane technology, such as delta wings, vertical stabilizers, and horizontal elevators. A further example,