21-35

• Freeth, T.

The Antikythera Mechanism is an extraordinary 2,000 year-old astronomical calculator, which was recovered 100 years ago by Greek sponge divers. Its true significance was not recognised until the research of Derek de Solla Price from the mid-1950s, which culminated in the classic Gears from the Greeks (Price 1974). Price undertook a detailed scientific examination, including x-rays, which showed that it was a complex mechanism with at least thirty gears. He also produced a model of the mechanism, which incorporated adifferential - apparently far ahead of its time. This paper challenges some of the key conclusions of this classic research as well as a later revision of Price's model by Allan Bromley. New investigations, using the latest technologies, are advocated in order to settle the many outstanding questions.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

astronomy, differential, gear, Greek technology, Meton, Saros

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