The Antikythera Mechanism

The Antikythera Mechanism, a small but elaborate Hellenistic instrument that displayed indications of astronomical events as functions of date, embodies by far the earliest known application of toothed gearing 1 . Due to its fragmentary, ruined state it has proved hard to understand, and it remains a difficult artefact to interpret and to appreciate without the use of supporting material. For these reasons it was an apt subject for reconstruction. In developing the reconstruction that forms the subject of this chapter, the author has contributed significantly to the understanding of the instrument, and at the time of writing his models remain the best illustrations of the original in all its detail 2, 3 .