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Antikythera Mechanism

c. 100 BCE

The Antikythera Mechanism (c. 100 BCE) is the world's oldest known analog computer: a hand-cranked bronze machine of some thirty interlocking gears that predicts the positions of the Sun and Moon, the phases of the Moon, eclipses and the calendar. It has no processor and no memory — the computation is embodied entirely in the ratios of its gear train.

Antikythera Mechanism Online Emulator

Play Antikythera Mechanism using JavaScript directly in your browser.

Configurations

ConfigurationEmulatorMachineOSLegal
Front dials — Sun, Moon & planetsAntikythera MechanismAntikythera MechanismopenOpen ⛶
Back dials — Metonic, Saros & eclipsesAntikythera MechanismAntikythera MechanismopenOpen ⛶

Downloads — ROMs & software

TitleTypeSize (bytes)Legal
Back dials — Metonic, Saros & eclipsesdemo0openDownload ↓
Front dials — Sun, Moon & planetsdemo0openDownload ↓

Downloads — ROMs & software

TitleTypeSize (bytes)Legal
Back dials — Metonic, Saros & eclipsesdemo0openDownload ↓
Front dials — Sun, Moon & planetsdemo0openDownload ↓

Downloads — ROMs & software

TitleTypeSize (bytes)Legal
Back dials — Metonic, Saros & eclipsesdemo0openDownload ↓
Front dials — Sun, Moon & planetsdemo0openDownload ↓

Gear train

The Antikythera Mechanism has no silicon: it is a purely mechanical computer whose "processor" is a bronze gear train. Turning the crank drives the Sun and Moon pointers (including the pin-and-slot device that reproduces the Moon's varying speed), the Metonic calendar spiral and the Saros eclipse-prediction spiral.

Emulators

EmulatorTypeLicenseSite
Antikythera MechanismonlineCC0 (original simulation)