Topic: The World’s First Computer of Genius

Presenters: Evaggelos Vallianatos

Science historian and environmental strategist Evaggelos Vallianatos will tell the story of the Antikythera Mechanism, a device discovered in 1900 that has become a window into the genius of ancient Greeks. In the second century BCE, the Greeks brought together the knowledge and philosophy they had been gathering for millennia into an astronomical computer designed primarily to predict the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. The Cosmos was sacred to the Greeks, but they had a special affection for the Sun and the Moon because these two stars gave them life and light. Besides, like the rest of the stars, the Greeks considered the Sun and his sister, the Moon, to be gods. Further, the Sun and the Moon arrange the time of the day, month and year. So, the metal astronomical computer with toothed gears was very important. Predicting the eclipses of the Sun and the Moon had a psychological virtue as many Greeks were frightened by the temporary disappearance of these two stars from the sky. In addition, the computer had a 19-year Meton accurate calendar and an 18-year Saros eclipse predictive dial. In fact, the computer also predicted the Olympics, so it united the heavens and Earth.

The Antikythera device was discovered in 1900 in the deep waters of the tiny Greek island of Antikythera in the Aegean. International scientists have been studying its fragments for more than 120 years.

Evaggelos Vallianatos, a frequent participant in our Cobb & Friends conversations, earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin. He also did his postdoctoral studies in the history of science at Harvard. He worked on Capitol Hill and the US Environmental Protection Agency. He taught at several universities and authored hundreds of articles and 7 books, including The Antikythera Mechanism: The Story Behind the Genius of the Greek Computer and its Demise.  

He has published several articles about this marvel of Greek civilization, including: 

1: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2022/10/the-antikythera-mechanism-the-greek-computer-of-science-and-reason.
2: https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/12/05/why-was-the-antikythera-mechanism-so-far-ahead-of-its-time/.

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