About this episode
Found in a Roman shipwreck off the coast of Greece, a corroded lump of bronze gears sat in a museum drawer for decades, dismissed as a curiosity. Then, X-ray imaging revealed the truth: it was an astronomical calculator of staggering complexity, built in the 2nd century BCE. Nothing like it would appear again for over a thousand years.
We unpack the genius of this analog device, which could predict planetary positions, lunar phases, and even eclipse timings. Who built it, and what was its purpose? This episode explores how the Mechanism forces us to rewrite the history of technology and wonder what other secrets from the ancient world still lie buried.
