Known as the Antikythera Mechanism, after the island off which the Roman shipwreck was discovered, the collection of bronze cogs and wheels has puzzled scientists since its discovery in 1902. They have been speculating that it was a some form of astronomical calculator since the 1950s, but further gamma- and X-ray analysis has revealed increasing complexity over the years. Such analysis has revealed around two thousand characters inscribed on the device, some of it forming a rudimentary instruction manual. Of course nobody reads the manual these days, which is probably why it took everyone so long to figure out how it works.

Having finally Read The Fricking Manual, researchers now believe the device was used to predict lunar and solar eclipses as well as calculate agricultural and religious calendars. Built by ancient star gazers, it features metal pointers showing the positions in the zodiac of the sun, moon and five planets known to Greeks astronomers.

The Antikythera Mechanism the most sophisticated device preserved from ancient Greece and has re-written the history books. It uses a differential gear, previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century - the equivalent of finding a dual core MacBook Pro dating from the Dark Ages. It makes you wonder what else the Greeks knew that has been lost to the bottom of the ocean.

The science journal Nature has published a new reconstruction of the mechanism based on the high resolution X-rays of the 82 surviving fragments. Standing about a foot tall in a wooden case, the hand powered mechanism is believed to have contained more than 30 gears mimicking the movements of the known solar system. The mechanism is now being studied by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project.{moscomment}

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Adam Turner  Science