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NOVA; Ancient Computer
10/04/2012
Green Label Packaged Master
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- Series
- NOVA
- Program
- Ancient Computer
- Program Number
4007
- Series Description
Premiered March 1974 NOVA is a general-interest documentary series that addresses a single science issue each week. Billed as "science adventures for curious grown-ups" when it first aired in March, 1974, NOVA continues to offer an informative and entertaining approach to a challenging subject. 1996 marked NOVA's 23rd season, which makes it the longest-running science program on national television. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over. Series release date: 3/3/1974
- Program Description
In 1900, a storm blew a boatload of sponge divers off course and forced them to take shelter by the tiny Mediterranean island of Antikythera. Diving the next day, they discovered a 2,000 year-old Greek shipwreck. Among the ship's cargo they hauled up was an unimpressive green lump of corroded bronze. Rusted remnants of gear wheels could be seen on its surface, suggesting some kind of intricate mechanism. The first X-ray studies confirmed that idea, but how it worked and what it was for puzzled scientists for decades. Recently, hi-tech imaging has revealed the extraordinary truth: this unique clockwork machine was the world's first computer. An array of 30 intricate bronze gear wheels, originally housed in a shoebox-size wooden case, was designed to predict the dates of lunar and solar eclipses, track the Moon's subtle motions through the sky, and calculate the dates of significant events such as the Olympic Games. No device of comparable technological sophistication is known from anywhere in the world for at least another 1,000 years. So who was the genius inventor behind it? And what happened to the advanced astronomical and engineering knowledge of its makers? NOVA follows the ingenious sleuthing that finally decoded the truth behind the amazing ancient Greek computer.
An Images First production for NOVA in association with ERT, ARTE (G.E.I.E.) and NHK
The World's First Computer: Decoding the Antikythera Mechanism © MMXII Images First Ltd
Additional Material © 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation
- Duration
00:56:46
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Genres
- Documentary
- Topics
- Science
- Citation
- Chicago: “NOVA; Ancient Computer,” 10/04/2012, GBH Archives, accessed September 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_582032EA98F74C708C99FC8DB1132214.
- MLA: “NOVA; Ancient Computer.” 10/04/2012. GBH Archives. Web. September 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_582032EA98F74C708C99FC8DB1132214>.
- APA: NOVA; Ancient Computer. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_582032EA98F74C708C99FC8DB1132214