It now seems certain that the Antikythera Mechanism is the world's oldest known analogue computer. HP's role in this discovery has been very important. You must read the article on this device in the current edition of "Nature" magazine (Nov 29). "Nature"'s report dosn't mention it, but HP's role was crucial in this unraveling of the raison d'etre of this machine, a "sophisticated predictor for the Sun/Moon/Earth system". HP's role was highlighted in the San Francico Chronicle's Business Section on Nov 30. The new knowledge was uncovered with the help of powerful X-ray technology and a sophisticated imaging system invented by HP called Reflectance Imaging. The technique involves taking photos and re-creating images of an object under different lighting conditions. An HP team traveled to Greece last year using this technology.
As "Nature" reports "the mechanism is technically more complex that any know device for at least a millennium afterwards.
"The ancient Antikythera Mechanism doesn't just challenge our assumptions about technology transfer over the ages -- it gives us fresh insights into history itself".
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