[Chaos-l] Antikythera Mechanism in the journal "Nature"

[D Gary Grady]

Here's a fascinating article on a reconstruction of the Antikythera 
Mechanism from circa 100 BCE, apparently an analog computer that could 
predict the positions of selected celestial bodies and possibly be used 
to forecast eclipses:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7119/full/444534a.html

It quotes Cicero to the effect that Posidonius of Rhodes had made an 
instrument "which at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the 
Sun, the Moon, and the five planets that take place in the heavens every 
day and night," seemingly describing a similar device and suggesting 
that this one was also made by Posidonius or a colleague or student.

-- 
D Gary Grady
Durham NC USA
dgary at mindspring.com