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World's oldest computer may be older than previously thought
Since its discovery over a century ago, the Antikythera Mechanism has had scholars scratching their heads over how the Greeks managed to build a mechanical computer a hundred years before the birth of Christ and thousands of years before anything similar. But now things have become even stranger as researchers claim that it's over a hundred years older than previously believed and may have been built by a famous hand.
The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in 1901 by sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera. At first, not much was made of it, but after the coral-encrusted, corroded mass of bronze gears was later studied using x-rays, gamma rays, and neutrons, and then reconstructed, it turned out to be something astonishing.
The device at first was thought to be some sort of surprisingly early clock, but then it turned out to be the oldest computer known. In fact it was an analog astronomical computer based on the principle of the differential calculator that uses gear trains as a way of performing complex calculations. On further study, the device proved capable of calculating, among other things, the position of the planets, sidereal time, and eclipses.
And all of this by using technology that was never realized to exist in the ancient world and after it vanished, didn't reappear until the 14th century. Even today the device sparks interest as the design is adapted to not only museum exhibits, but also watches.
First reported in the New York Times, the new date for the Antikythera Mechanism is the result of work by James Evans, professor of physics at University of Puget Sound, and Christián Carman, history of science professor at University of Quilmes, Argentina.
The new date is based on a reconstruction of the device made by John Steele of Brown University in 2008. This involved matching the calculations against Babylonian eclipse records and applying an analysis that took into account lunar and solar anomalies, solar eclipses, and lunar and solar eclipses cycles that might have been missing and other inaccuracies – not the least of which might have been caused by the fact that much of the device was never salvaged.
By a process of elimination, Evans and Carman eliminated hundreds of eclipse patterns until a match was found that placed the earliest eclipse on the device matching the year 205 BC. According to the researchers, such a date not only places the manufacturing date perhaps a hundred years earlier than the previous date of about 100 BC, but also indicates that the mathematics used to design the device were derived from Babylonian methods rather than Greek trigonometry, which did not exist at that time.
The researchers also put forward another tantalizing possibility opened by the new date. According to Cicero, there was a story that a device much like the one found at Antikythera was made by Archimedes and captured by the Roman general Marcellus after the sack of Syracuse and the death of Archimedes in 212 BC. It is remotely possible that it and the Antikythera Mechanism may be one and the same. The researchers emphasize that the correlation is conjectural, but it does suggest that the age of the device is not only now known, but that a famous name can be given to its maker.
注释：
sponge: n
表示" 海绵"，如：The sponge soaked in the water on the desk. 海绵将书桌上的水吸了进去。
encrust: v
表示" 包以外壳（结壳）；装饰外层"，如：Salt from the sea had encrusted on the dry sand. 海水中的盐分在乾燥的沙子上结成硬皮。
neutron: n
表示" 中子"，如：Proton and neutron form a charge doublet. 质子和中子构成电荷双重态。
analog: adj
表示" 模拟的；类比的"，如：The analog computers were designed to solve differential equations. 模拟计算机是被设计解决微分方程的。
astronomical: adj
表示" 天文学的；巨大的"，如：He is engaged in astronomical research. 他致力于天文学的研究。
sidereal: adj
表示"恒星的"，如：A sidereal day is about 4 minutes shorter than a solar day. 一个恒星日比一个太阳日大约短4分钟。
Babylonian: adj
表示" 巴比伦的；奢侈的"，如：The Babylonian captivity civilized them and consolidated them. 巴比伦的囚虏使他们走向文明，并且统一起来。
trigonometry: n
表示" 三角法"，如：He received a low mark for trigonometry. 他的三角学分数很低。
tantalize: v
表示"（以可望而不可即之物）逗引或招惹（人或动物）；使着急"，means "harass with persistent criticism or carping"，如：Give the dog the bone don't tantalize him. 把那块骨头给那条狗吧--别让它乾著急了。
conjectural: adj
表示" 推测的；好推测的"，means "based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence"，如：It was a situation typical of the family's conjectural vocation. 我家人最喜欢听风就是雨，这事我一点都不意外。
中文简要说明：
上个世纪80年代的好莱坞动作电影「印第安纳琼斯」(Indiana Jones)又回来了，系列的第5部作品「命运轮盘」(Dial of Destiny)，指的是在爱琴海下所发现的「安提基特拉机械」(Antikythera mechanism)。有别于先前的法柜、圣石、圣杯是传说中的宗教圣物，或是已被确定为赝品的水晶骷髅；安提基特拉机械则是真实存在的古老遗物，而且它也确实充满谜团，除了考古学家以外，数学家、天文学家、机械工程师，也都试图理解它，不过，对它分析的愈多，谜团也跟着愈多
1901 年，希腊安提基特拉岛(Antikythera island ，克里特岛西北边，罗伯奔尼撒半岛以南)附近的海域，一位海绵采收员在海底发现的一艘古罗马沉船，其历史可追溯至公元前 1 世纪。船上有大批艺术品宝藏，包括雕像、罐子和珠宝，相当精美与高级，可能是为了罗马执政官西泽的凯旋游行而准备的。这些宝藏具有极高历史价值，但是相比于一块被腐蚀的青铜碎片，又显得平凡无奇了，因为这个青铜碎片有明显的转轮结构，看起来就像个机械钟，而真正意义的机械钟要到14世纪才出现。考古学家与历史学家对它毫无头绪，只能以发现地点取名，就称为「安提基特拉机械」。
有别于银幕上「命运轮盘」那样外表金灿灿、完整而且零件分明，真实的安提基特拉机械浸泡在海水里2000多年，早已满是青铜锈，整块都凝固在一起，增加了研究的困难程度，我们甚至连它的年代也都无法完全确定。
随着新一代的探测仪器，包括X射线仪、伽马射线仪，和中子分析器的问世，我们终于能够更仔细的研究这块覆盖着珊瑚、腐蚀的青铜齿轮的奇怪机器进行重建试研究，仔细的去细数它的零件数。伦敦大学的团队发现了许多轴承、支柱，以及一个 63 齿的齿轮。此外，前面板剩余部分办认出数字 462 和 442，这代表什么? 科学家推测，它分别是金星和土星在天空中运行的路径周期。
因此，在完好无损的情况下，齿轮机构安装在一个青铜盒子内，一侧有一个扭轮来启动它（可能类似发条），正面有希腊文的刻度盘，背面则有指标结果的指导说明。科学家认为，它可能用来计算月相、月球轨道、日食和各种日历功能。并预测当时已知的5颗行星（水星、金星、火星、木星和土星）的运动。一言以敝之，这是个天文钟，也可以说是天文计算器。
值得注意的是，安提机特拉机械所预测的行星周期其实相当复杂，会在天空中加速、减速，甚至逆转然后停留，然后再继续前进。这不奇怪，因为这就是行星运行所看到的情况，顺行、留、逆行、留，再顺行。这是因为古人相信行星围绕地球转而不是太阳旋转，这使得准确预测它们的运动变得极其困难。
另外，它的年代也有争议，虽然它出现在一艘公元前一世纪的船上，但一种看法认为，它可能比船上的其他对象更古老，至少再老上一百年。
美国华盛顿州普特吉湾大学(University of Puget Sound)的学者艾凡斯(James Evans)，与阿根廷基尔梅斯大学(University of Quilmes)学者卡曼(Christián Carman)认为，依据我们已确知的日食纪录，以及已知的安提基特拉机械运算模式，那么它可以与最早的日食纪录(公元前 205 年)相匹配。这将使安提基特拉机械制造日期提早到公元前200年左右，而且还表明它的数学原理来自巴比伦方法，而不是希腊三角学。
公元前200年正是第二次布匿战争(Second Punic War)时期，罗马与迦太基在争夺地中海霸权，其中一个争夺点就是西西里岛上的叙拉古(Siracusa)，也就是阿基米得(Archimedes)所在的城邦。
研究人员认为，安提基特拉机械具有阿基米得机械的特征。他们也不是胡猜，根据罗马哲学家西塞罗(Marcus Tullius Cicero)记述的故事，当叙拉古城破时，阿基米得制造了一种天文钟被罗马军所夺走，或许那就是安提基特拉机械。
研究人员强调，最后这段完全是推测性的，但历史文献上确实有可能已经提到它。
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