in 1900, a crew of greek sponge divers discovered a shipwreck off the coast of antikythera that had sunk around 60 bc. numerous artifacts, such as bronze and marble statues, pottery, glassware, jewellery and coins, were retrieved in 1901. one of the objects was a lump of corroded bronze that revealed its historical significance as the world's first known computer.

the antikythera mechanism was a hand-powered model of the solar system used to calculate astronomical cycles and to predict eclipses. this project provides an interactive 2d model of the 2200 year old instrument. the animation speed has been set to one year per minute.



© thomas weibel, basel