Scientists have finally decoded the 2,000-year-old Greek computer famously known as the Antikythera Mechanism, according to a report from the India Times dated June 14, 2016.
The world’s first computer was recovered from a shipwreck off a Greek island in 1901.
More than a decade was invested to investigate the 2,000-year-old device and they have reasons to believe that the first computer is a “philosopher’s instructional device.” It was also used for tracking the movement of the sun and the moon and new happenings in the space.
The apparatus which is about the size of a shoebox is one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries ever done in history. It composed of interlocking gears which are surrounded by series of dials. Scientists have reason to believe that nothing similar like this was made in the next 1,000 years.
Ever since the first fragment was recovered scientist and historians around the worlds have been trying to uncover the relics secret.
Some words and text in the relics are invisible to the naked eye so to understand the importance of those hidden letters scientist have used techniques such as 3D X-ray scanning.
By this technique historian and scientist have been able to decipher 3,500 characters of the explanatory text that are there on the front and back of the device.
The precise way by which this device was built to study space also revealed the engineering capabilities of the ancient Greeks.
Their technique was used to discover the activities happening in the space. Whereas the nature of the text clearly shows that the device was used to track the phases of the moon, the positions of the planet and was not only limited to the use of astronomy.
In a report by Science World Report, Alexander Jones a history professor from New York said, “ With the help of latest technologies now the text of the computer can be read in ancient Greek and not something that we don’t understand at all.”
Till date, 82 fragments of the device have been found out, and scientist is still looking for some missing pieces so to have a complete conclusion of the entire functions of the instrument.
