Decoding the Heavens

副标题: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer--and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets

ISBN: 9780306817427

出版社: Da Capo Press

出版年: 2009-02-09

页数: 336

定价: USD 25.00

装帧: Hardcover

内容简介

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 charactersranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteauand 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.