Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/lego_computer/
Apple chap knocks up ancient Lego computer
The plastic fantastic Antikythera Mechanism
Posted in Science, 10th December 2010 10:42 GMT
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Apple software engineer Andrew Carol has rather impressively put together a replica of the ancient Antikythera Mechanism - built entirely from Lego.
[1]
The mechanism, constructed around 80BC, was recovered from the wreck of a cargo ship off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, but wasn't until 2006 revealed [2] to be a planetary motion calculator.
Carol has, with a big bucket of Lego and the backing of Digital Science [3], demonstrated how the contraption may have been used to calculate eclipses:
There's an in-depth look at the machinations of the real Antikythera Mechanism down at Nature [4]. ®