The original Antikythra Mechanism, found in a sunken Roman ship off the coast of the island Antikythra.

This is a reconstruction of the Antikythra Mechanism build by a researcher, Solis de Price in the 1980's.

This is one of the most interesting things we have learned about. In our tapes we have been listening to, the professor compares and contrasts the Greeks and the Romans historically as well as by subject. One of the lectures is on Science. He uses the Antikythra Mechanism as the example to show how clever the Greeks were in the field of Science. While the Romans were interested in admininstration and "get-r-done", the Greeks have always been a people interested in the whys and hows of natural wonders. His quote to describe the Greeks is, "Damn clever chappies" (obviously he is from the UK). This mechanism was found in a shipwreck along with some incredible statues and is dated to about 80 B.C. Stolen from the island of Delos by the Romans to take back to Rome. Scientist now believe that it was a "computer" of sorts that would tell time based on the movement of the sun and moon and also predict movement of other stars and planets. It is made up of 32 gears and plaques inscribed with greek zodiac and month labels. Newer models and reconstuctions still continue as this device captures scientist's imaginations almost 2100 years later.