The Antikethera Mechanism

[JTM]

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1869637971?bctid=704706701001

Glorious movie there...

 

[Blake Bowden]

I've always been fascinated with that...

 

[coachn]

Me too!

 

[Bro.BruceBenjamin]

A pity that as nations were conquered books were burned destroying lots of knowledge forever. What could be saved has proven to amaze even todays most gifted engineers myself included. As the years go by I believe there will be even more discoveries that will change history as we know it.

 

[Benton]

Fascinating! Makes me wish I knew even a lick about engineering.

 

[Hndrx]

Very cool. I'm fascinated by the idea of "lost" technology and knowledge.

 

[jwhoff]

Its hard to believe we went through 1000 years of ignorance shortly after the first steam engine was invented in the 1st century AD by Heron in Alexandria.

Me too. Hell, it's damn hard to believe we've gone through the last forty years of ignorance ... steam engine or not!

Again brethren, seems like our biggest exports of the last few decades have been fear and ignorance.

I like the post too. Anyone contemplate the possibilities to have been in possession of a valid library card in the glory days of Alexandria?

Here's a thought I'd like us all to ponder. How much worse has it gotten since the dawn of the Information Age? Will the black lash overcome our advancements in the near term?

 

[JohnnyFlotsam]

Here's a thought I'd like us all to ponder. How much worse has it gotten since the dawn of the Information Age? Will the black lash overcome our advancements in the near term?

I ponder that very thing, to one extent or another, ever single day. I've been an Internet user since before there was a "world wide web". The realization of how powerful this thing was hit me like a ton of bricks the first time I used Gopher to find some piece of information and found it in seconds, on a system in Taiwan. I was immediately struck with how the transformative nature of this tool would come to affect the world. Gopher, and access to it, was at the time, the province of serious geeks, but within a very few years, hypertext and all the tools that followed it, did indeed revolutionize the sharing of information. That revolution is, arguably, at least as profound as the one spawned by the printing press.

Not surprisingly, there is now coming a similar backlash from those quarters that are threatened by an informed and enlightened populace. We've seen it in "The Great Firewall Of China" and in the similar efforts, on the part of a great many governments, to suppress the free exchange of information. Most troubling of all are the many proposed and already extent threats being put in place right here in the U.S.A. I am loathe to broach political subjects, but this one is an exception if only because these dangerous threats to our liberties are being carried out across the political spectrum. And I hate being a "glass half empty" type, but I fear that, because of apathy and fear on the part of the populace, and because of a combination of greed and stunning ignorance on the part of our elected representatives, this trend is going to continue.

 

[Traveling Man]

... And I hate being a "glass half empty" type, but I fear that, because of apathy and fear on the part of the populace, and because of a combination of greed and stunning ignorance on the part of our elected representatives, this trend is going to continue.

The greed part is the least of my worries; the bridled "control" of information through "political power" is what concerns me the most. To me that is the antithesis of the foundation of this country.

 

[jwhoff]

Gentlemen, this is great stuff!

When's the last time a casual internet user went to the web and found the truth before several misrepresentations or out right lies on a topic?

Is this another instance where the ancients were totally right? Should we have shared this light? How much harm is being done?

I think there is real concern on this topic. And I firmly believe our freedom could some day be placed in jeopardy due to the poison being posted daily on any number of subjects. Please offer your comments!

 

[Traveling Man]

And I firmly believe our freedom could some day be placed in jeopardy due to the poison being posted daily on any number of subjects.

The poison has always been there; whether it is on the internet, books etc. It has always been incumbent upon the truth seeker to validate the truth. There are those that perceive their truth without the support of facts. Proof positive as found through the scientific method of discovery seems to be the most reliable methodology to date. But then there always will be the lazy intellect, this usually occurs when we let someone else do the thinking and research for us.