Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World’s First Computer

NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only.

Number of Pages: 352

The fascinating story of the discovery of, and subsequent quest to decode, the world’s first computer In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an Ancient Greek shipwreck dating from around 70 BC. Lying unnoticed for months amongst their hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock, which turned out to be the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this ‘Antikythera mechanism’ puzzled academics, but now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings. In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells for the first time the story of the 100-year quest to understand 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, the Islamic world and medieval Europe.