Dr. Tony Freeth (University College London): The Antikythera Mechanism: A Shocking Discovery from Ancient Greece. (Video)
Without two chance storms, two thousand years apart, the Antikythera Mechanism would never have been discovered and our view of ancient Greek technology would be entirely different. With its extraordinary bronze gear trains, it has been the subject of impassioned controversy for more than a hundred years. Initially, its structure and purpose remained hidden in a corroded tangle of fragmentary gears, scales and inscriptions—and there were many confusions and mistakes. Research in the last decade has made huge progress in understanding its true identity. As part of an international team, Dr Tony Freeth has been a central figure in an extraordinary voyage of discovery: every new revelation has reinforced a sense of shock about this highly sophisticated ancient Greek astronomical calculating machine. It is one of the true wonders of the ancient world.
Dr Tony Freeth is a founding member of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project and an Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College, London. He holds degrees in Mathematics from Cambridge University (UK) and Bristol University (UK). His work on the Antikythera Mechanism has been published in Nature (Freeth et al, Nature 2006 and Freeth et al, Nature 2008) as well as other prominent journals. In 2012 he produced and appeared in an award-winning TV documentary about the Antikythera Mechanism, broadcast in the USA as Ancient Computer (WGBH Nova) and distributed internationally by the BBC, ARTE, NHK and many other major TV channels.
This lecture is now available on Stanford YouTube and iTunes U.