Beautiful phyiscal model of the Antikythera Mechanism

Also a related interested read: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4184

"... Most archaeologists agree that this particular device was neither unique nor the first of its kind. Two factors contribute to this: First, its design is quite refined, which is not consistent with a prototype. Second, an object as expensive and complex as this would typically be made in a series in order to recover the costs of design. Why, then, are its siblings not found? ..."

... where "The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. [...] It is now thought to have been built about 150–100 BCE."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

btw the process of imaging the antikythera mechanism using the PTM stuff from HP is ALSO fascinating.

http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/ptm/antikythera_mechanism/ind...