The Ancient World’s First Computer

Discovered in a shipwreck, the Antikythera mechanism is the world’s oldest analogue computer. Built by the Greeks over 2,000 years ago, it tracked the heavens and predicted eclipses with clockwork precision.

This sophisticated device used a complex system of bronze gears to chart the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. It was so advanced that nothing of similar mechanical complexity appeared again until the development of astronomical clocks in medieval Europe. Beyond just science, it tracked the four-year cycle of ancient athletic games like the Olympics. It remains a mysterious masterpiece of ancient engineering that changed our understanding of early technology.