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A 2,000-Year-Old Computer--and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets
by Jo Marchant
The bronze fragments of an ancient Greek device have puzzled scholars for more than a century after they were recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, where they had lain since about 80 BC. Now, using advanced imaging technology, scientists have solved the mystery of its intricate workings. Unmatched in complexity for a thousand years, the mechanism functioned as the world’s first analog computer, calculating the movements of the sun, moon, and planets through the zodiac.
In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant details for the first time the hundred-year quest to decode this ancient computer. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of remarkable characters—ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau—and explores the deep roots of modern technology, not only in ancient Greece, but in the Islamic world and medieval Europe. At its heart, this is an epic adventure story, a book that challenges our assumptions about technology development through the ages while giving us fresh insights into history itself.
"Starred Review. A valuable, fast-moving look at the history - and mystery - of the world's first analog computer." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Starred Review. This globe-trotting, era-spanning mystery should absorb armchair scientists of all kinds." - Publishers Weekly.
"A dizzyingly brilliant thing...Whatever else it might once have told its creators, the Antikythera mechanism bears a chilling message for our technological age." - The Telegraph (UK).
"Marchant brilliantly explores the cast of characters who have become captivated by the Antikythera mechanism. The book bristles with scientific obsession, intense rivalry and low skullduggery and will furnish you with a wealth of tell-your-friends at-dinner-parties type facts. I ended up falling under the Antikythera mechanism's spell too. " - The Guardian (UK).
"Sunken treasure. A mysterious artefact. Scrambled inscriptions. Warring academic egos. Technology 1,000 years before its time. The tale...sounds like pulp fiction. But it is all true." - The Independent (UK).
"Though it is more than 2,000 years old, the Antikythera Mechanism represents a level that our technology did not match until the 18th century, and must therefore rank as one of the greatest basic mechanical inventions of all time. I hope this book will rekindle interest in this artefact, which still remains under-rated." - Arthur C Clarke.
This information about Decoding the Heavens was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jo Marchant is an award-winning science journalist and author. She has worked as an editor at New Scientist and at Nature and writes on topics from the future of genetic engineering to underwater archaeology. She lives in London.
Visit Jo at http://jomarchant.com/
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