2025 WSC Weekly31期：最古老的计算机居然在2000多年前就被发明了？

WSC Weekly

2025世界学者杯

the World Scholar's Cup

@WSC小学者们！Jerry喊你来看

WSC Weekly专栏啦！

2025年度主题：重燃未来

Reigniting the Future

WSC Weekly专栏将精选最新话题内容

助力小学者准备世界学者杯！

让我们怀着

永恒的学术精神与信念

探索未来的无限可能吧！

锁定每周WSC Weekly

在2025年世界学者杯第30期WSC Weekly栏目中，我们与小学者一起了解了孤独如何从一种个人感受，演变为危害堪比每日吸烟15支的全球公共健康危机。在上期的趣味Quiz中，你是否找到了正确答案？现在就让我们一起来揭晓吧！

孤独的危害相当于每天抽15根烟？

Loneliness as an overlooked global health threat

第30期Quiz答案揭晓：

Old people living in which of the following countries are most likely to suffer from loneliness?

以下哪个国家的老年人最容易遭受孤独感？

A. Uganda 乌干达

B. Japan 日本

C. Iceland 冰岛

D. Hungary 匈牙利

E. Canada 加拿大

正确答案：D

Key: D

2025年第31期

Weekly Intro

古希腊人是否早已掌握计算机技术？这台神秘装置如何颠覆我们对古代文明的认知？

本期Weekly将深入解析安提基特拉机械的发现与奥秘，揭开两千年前的科技奇迹，一起来看看吧！

2025 No.31

最古老的计算机居然在2000多年前就被发明了？

The Antikythera Mechanism: The World’s First Computer

锈蚀外壳下的真相

1900年春天，一群希腊海绵潜水员在爱琴海的安提凯希拉岛附近航行时，为了躲避风暴而下潜寻找避风处。其中一位潜水员潜入清澈的海水中，意外发现了一艘古代沉船的残骸，位于大约50米深的海底。海床上散落着大理石雕像、双耳瓶和锈蚀的青铜器。在这些文物中，有一块看似不起眼的金属块，因长时间浸泡在水中已严重结壳并融合。当这件文物被打捞上岸并加以研究时，考古学家们发现其内部竟隐藏着一个精密的青铜齿轮系统。尽管外表看似一团锈蚀的金属块，它实际上是一台已有两千多年历史的复杂装置，如今被称为安提基特拉机械（Antikythera Mechanism）。这台由齿轮驱动的小型仪器最终被公认为世界上第一台模拟计算机，揭示了古希腊人拥有着超出现代人想象的技术水平。

In the spring of 1900, a crew of Greek sponge divers set sail near the island of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea, seeking refuge from a storm. When one diver descended into the clear blue waters, he stumbled upon the remains of an ancient shipwreck resting about 50 meters below the surface. Scattered across the seabed were marble statues, amphorae, and corroded bronze artifacts. Among these relics lay an unremarkable lump of metal, heavily encrusted and fused together by centuries underwater. When the artifact was later brought to the surface and examined, archaeologists discovered a remarkably intricate system of bronze gears hidden within.Though it appeared at first to be a corroded mass, it was in fact a sophisticated device more than 2,000 years old—now known as the Antikythera Mechanism.This small, gear-driven instrument would eventually be recognized as the world’s first analog computer, revealing a level of technological ingenuity in ancient Greece that scholars had never imagined.

青铜齿轮驱动的宇宙

据推测，安提基特拉机械建造于公元前150年至公元前100年之间，正值希腊科学家和哲学家试图用数学方式描述宇宙的时期。该机械装置被放在一个大致与现代笔记本电脑大小相当的木盒中，其中包含至少30个精密嵌套的青铜齿轮。当手动摇动一个小把手时，这些齿轮便可将数学计算转化为机械运动，能高度精准地模拟天体运行。装置上的铭文显示，它的设计用途包括预测太阳、月亮以及古希腊人已知的五颗行星（水星、金星、火星、木星和土星）的运行情况。它还能显示月相、预测日食和月食、并将希腊历与埃及历对齐，具有协调节日与农业周期的重要功能。其背部设有两个螺旋形刻度盘，用于追踪长期周期，例如19年的默冬周期（Metonic cycle）和大约18年的沙罗周期（Saros cycle），这两者都与日月食预测密切相关。这一装置的存在，证明古希腊工程师不仅是天文理论家，他们还具备将复杂天文模型转化为实物机械的能力，早在欧洲钟表技术出现几个世纪前就已造出如此精密的机械。

The Antikythera Mechanism is thought to have been constructed between 150 and 100 BCE, during a time when Greek scientists and philosophers were attempting to mathematically describe the universe.The mechanism was housed in a wooden box roughly the size of a modern laptop and contained at least 30 interlocking bronze gears arranged with incredible precision. When operated by a small hand crank, these gears translated mathematical calculations into mechanical motion, allowing the user to model celestial cycles with remarkable accuracy.Inscriptions found on the device indicate that it was designed to predict the movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets known to the ancient Greeks—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. It could also display the phases of the Moon, predict solar and lunar eclipses, and align the Greek calendar with the Egyptian calendar, a crucial function for coordinating festivals and agricultural cycles. The back of the mechanism featured two spiral dials that tracked long-term cycles such as the Metonic cycle (19 years) and the Saros cycle (approximately 18 years), both used to predict eclipses. Its existence demonstrated that Greek engineers were not merely theoretical thinkers—they could transform complex astronomical models into tangible mechanical devices centuries before the invention of clockwork in Europe.

失传的古代黑科技

安提基特拉机械之所以令人惊叹，不仅在于其用途，更在于其机械结构的复杂性。它的微型齿轮被精确地切割，其齿距仅数毫米，这需要一种古代世界看似不可能存在的工具与工艺，正因如此，曾有人认为它是外星文明带到地球的装置。该设备采用了行星齿轮系统（epicyclic gearing），即小齿轮围绕大齿轮旋转的机制，这与现代机械手表中的结构极为相似。借此系统，装置可精准模拟月球的非圆轨道及行星的逆行运动。作为对比，人类直到中世纪的天文钟发明之后，才再次出现与之复杂程度相当的机器，且即便如此，这些钟表在体积与精度方面仍不及安提基特拉机械。它证明了古希腊技术水平远高于人们此前的认知，展现出数学、天文学与工程学的融合，在其时代中无与伦比。

What makes the Antikythera Mechanism extraordinary is not just its purpose, but its mechanical sophistication.Its miniature gears were precisely cut with teeth measuring just millimeters in size, requiring tools and techniques that seemed impossible for the ancient world. This is why some theorists claimed it came from an alien spaceship. The device used epicyclic gearing, a system in which smaller gears revolve around larger ones—similar to mechanisms found in modern mechanical watches.This allowed it to model the irregular orbit of the Moon and the retrograde motion of planets with astounding accuracy. For comparison, no other known machine of similar complexity existed until the development of astronomical clocks in medieval Europe—over a millennium later. Even then, those clocks did not achieve the same compact precision. The Antikythera Mechanism proves that ancient Greek technology was far more advanced than previously believed, representing a fusion of mathematics, astronomy, and engineering unmatched in its time.

从X光到CT的破译之旅

安提基特拉机械在被发现之后，困惑了研究者数十年。直到1906年，德国语言学家阿尔贝特·雷姆（Albert Rehm）首次提出它是一台天文计算器。但这一观点并未引起广泛关注，直到20世纪中期，英国物理学家德里克·德·索拉·普莱斯（Derek J. de Solla Price）用X光对其进行研究。1974年，他发表了开创性研究《希腊人的齿轮（Gears from the Greeks）》，指出安提基特拉机械是一台能够预测天文现象的模拟计算机。普莱斯的研究显示，古代工程师已掌握差动齿轮技术，而这项技术原本被认为是在文艺复兴时期才出现的。进入21世纪后，新技术使研究工作再次升温。由物理学家迈克·埃德蒙兹（Mike Edmunds）与托尼·弗里斯（Tony Freeth）领导的“安提基特拉机械研究项目（Antikythera Mechanism Research Project）”运用高分辨率CT扫描与表面成像技术，揭示出肉眼无法察觉的铭文和齿轮结构。这些研究使科学家得以对装置进行虚拟重建，并发现了用于操作说明的铭文。这些文字不仅确认了该装置可显示行星位置，还包含与希腊历法相关的日食预测和体育赛事信息。这些铭文的发现不仅让我们理解其操作方式，更让我们一窥古希腊人深邃的宇宙观。

After its discovery, the mechanism puzzled researchers for decades. It was not until 1906 that the German philologist Albert Rehm suggested it was an astronomical calculator.His hypothesis went largely unnoticed until the mid-20th century, when British physicist Derek J. de Solla Price examined the device using X-rays. In 1974, he published his groundbreaking study “Gears from the Greeks,” concluding that the Antikythera Mechanism was an analog computer capable of predicting celestial events.Price’s analysis revealed that ancient engineers had mastered differential gearing—a technique previously thought to have originated during the Renaissance. In the early 2000s, new technologies revived the study of the mechanism. The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, led by physicists Mike Edmunds and Tony Freeth, used high-resolution CT scanning and surface imaging to uncover hidden inscriptions and gear structures invisible to the naked eye. These efforts allowed scientists to reconstruct the device virtually, revealing text that served as an ancient “user manual.” The inscriptions confirmed that the mechanism displayed planetary positions and included predictions for eclipses and athletic events linked to the Greek calendar. The discovery of these texts provided insight not only into its operation but also into the sophisticated worldview of the people who built it.

指向罗得岛的铭文密码

尽管研究逐渐深入，但安提基特拉机械机械的确切起源地仍未确定。然而，多个线索都指向希腊的罗得岛（Rhodes），这是希腊化时代一个重要的天文与工程中心。装置上的铭文提到了如“嬉乐节（Halieia）”等罗得岛当地节日，其月份名称也与该地区的历法一致。因此，历史学家推测，该机械可能出自与古希腊最伟大的科学家之一的天文学家喜帕恰斯（Hipparchus）有关的学派。喜帕恰斯所提出的月球运动数学模型与该装置内部齿轮所展现的规律高度吻合。一些学者甚至推测，喜帕恰斯本人可能就是该装置的设计者或启发者。另一些人则将其思想渊源追溯至阿基米德（Archimedes），这位叙拉古的天才曾制造过模拟天空运行的机械模型，可能为类似仪器的原型。

Despite extensive study, the exact origin of the Antikythera Mechanism remains uncertain.However, clues point strongly to the Greek island of Rhodes, a major center of astronomy and engineering during the Hellenistic era. The inscriptions on the device reference local festivals such as the Halieia, celebrated in Rhodes, and the names of the months correspond to calendars used in the region.This has led historians to believe the mechanism was crafted by astronomers associated with the school of Hipparchus, one of the greatest Greek scientists. Hipparchus’s mathematical models of lunar motion are remarkably similar to those represented in the mechanism’s gears. Some scholars even propose that Hipparchus himself might have designed the device or inspired its construction. Others trace its intellectual lineage back to Archimedes of Syracuse, who was known for creating mechanical models of the heavens that may have served as prototypes for such instruments.

重定义古希腊文明

安提基特拉机械彻底改变了人们对古代科技与科学的理解。在其发现之前，历史学家普遍认为古代文明不具备制造如此精密仪器的技术能力。而该装置打破了这一假设，证明古代工程师早已将理论与工艺高度融合。它证明了早在2000多年前，人类就已经能够通过自身的聪明才智理解、建模并预测宇宙运行规律。如今，这台机械的残片（约为原装的三分之一）被保存在雅典国家考古博物馆，继续激发着科学家、工程师与历史学家的灵感。其复制品与数字重建版本被展出于世界各地的博物馆，研究人员还在借助3D建模与机器学习探索其缺失的部分。

The Antikythera Mechanism forever changed our understanding of ancient technology and science.Before its discovery, historians believed that ancient civilizations lacked the mechanical sophistication necessary for such precise instruments. The mechanism shattered that assumption, proving that ancient engineers had already achieved a deep integration of theory and craftsmanship.It embodies a profound idea: that the cosmos can be understood, modeled, and predicted through human ingenuity. Today, the surviving fragments of the device—about one-third of the original—are housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, where they continue to inspire scientists, engineers, and historians. Replicas and digital reconstructions are displayed in museums worldwide, and research continues using 3D modeling and machine learning to explore its missing components.

Weekly关键词 Key Words

Antikythera Mechanism

安提基特拉机械

Saros cycle 沙罗周期

Metonic cycle 默冬周期

所属话题

In Futurity, Someone Prophetic Sees

相关阅读

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/decoding-antikythera-mechanism-first-computer-180953979/

Quiz

Someone studying the Antikythera Mechanism is LEAST likely to encounter which of the following concepts?

研究安提基特拉机械装置的人最不可能遇到以下哪个概念？

A. tomography 断层扫描术

B. solar terms 节气

C. lunar eclipses 月食

D. saros 沙罗周期

E. Metonic cycle 默冬周期