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Notes on the Antikythera Mechanism ~

by
ALLAN

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BROMLEY'

cc qui correspond cxactcrncnt ,j cc que Ie copiste dernotiquc a rnis en pratique dans sa formule. Ccci parait d'autant plus probable que cette fonnule est facile il prouver par une deduction de n. it Il + 1 Si lon ucccpte cetre interpretation, du point de vue des mathematiques. la situation est des lars completernent changce. Nous posscdcrions iei UI1 cas tout ~I fait extraordinaire pour l'Egypte antique. Car. si la sornme de la progression anthmenque au dcuxierne degre crait que lquc chose de bien connu chez les Babylonicns et les Grecs, il n'cn va pas du tout de mernc pour la double somme d'une progression arithmeriquc. Aucun pcuple de l'Antiquirc n'a jusquici laisse trace de la conn a.ssance cl-une Iorrnule de ce typc.F':" Seule l'Egyptc antique, it travers I'CIlOllCC du prohleme numcro 53 du papyru5 dcmotique 81\-1 10520 et 1" solution qui peut lui etre apportcc , portcrai t ternoignage de ceue cormaissance rres avancec puisqu'il nous faut attendrc cn effet les temps modernes, avec Leibniz et Ie calcul infinitesimal, pour retrouvcr un raisonncrncnt sernblable en matiere darithmctique.

REFERENCES I. R. A. Parker Univc rsi tv Press. Ocmottc Mothenunicnt 1972) p. Papyrus

(l4.

(Brown

Egypt ological und Srudicn

Studies.

Vii.

Brown der

Providence.

.., D. Neugebauer MmhcII/alisc/rc Kciischrifticxrc I {Qucllcn ,'H(If!Jc1IwNk.. Abt . i\; BcI ,'., Berlin jI)J5) P: 'N. 3. Nicomacbc lit: Gcmsa lntroductian {I I'ArirhmeliqHl' cnncifornrs dvr 4. 0, Xcugcbaucr Haven. 11.)45) 5. 0, Neugebauer.
(1.

zur Ccsclsictnc

New Yor-e 1926.

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. A. SUL'hs. Mothcmoticul
Vor!e.\'lllIgr>/1

(Amcr.

Oriental

series

2<J, New

iibrr rii('

(i()_I'dlich/(~

antikrn

mallU'l1Iofisc/wtl

iVi.\Sf'/J .v dllljien.

Lrstcr Band: Vorgriechicltc :\'l({{lIl'IIUllik (Springer Verlag. Berlin, 196Y), p. 171 sq. 13. I.. Van dcr wncrccn. r.rwachrndc Wis_w~I'.\ch(lJI. AKypliscl!e, /wbyhmi.l"('/lc 1(11(/griec/Jil'C/H! . 4at!w1I!(I.'ik (Birkhtiuser Vcrtag. Ha.;.::1.19(0). 1 12~ ~'l

In his lengthy paper "Gears from the Greeks: the Antikythera Mechanism ~ A Calender Computer from ca. 80 BC" Derek De Solla Price has given a detailed description of this earliest known mathematical gearwork. Price demonstrates that the Greeks wen: capable of fabricating gearwork of a complexity not previously known before the great astronomical clocks of the middle ages. Further, the gcarwork is not just impressive for its quantity but also for thc remarkable sophistication of the differential mechanism it incorporates. An important fruit of Price's many years of careful scholarship is a proposed reconstruction of the Antik ythera Mechanism in his Figure 33 (shown in Figure 1 of this paper) and described at length elsewhere in his 1J<lpl:r. The work described in this present paper was motivated by disquiet felt over some aspects of Price's reconstruction. In particular, [ have been concerned by the high step-up ratio of nearly 25:1 in the gearing from Price's main drive wheel HI to the intermediate axis F in the gear train for the synodical month; thc absence of any indication for the day - the most obvious of all astronomical phenomena; and the uncertainty about the gearing on axes Nand 0 and the whole purpose of the upper dials of the back. This paper proposes alternative reconstructions in which these ohjections are overcome. By using the differential turntable as UII input driven from a day or week input at half the lunar synodical rate the mechanical difficulties are removed and a natural use is provided for the gear E4 unused in Price's reconstruction. On astronomical grounds it seems most reasonable to suppose that the upper dials of the back are associated with the motions of the
Computer Science FOC)_University of Sydney, NS",",' 2006 Australia .

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moon's nodes and hence with eclipse cycles such as the Saros. An approximation to t~e Saros, employing thc movable dial rings in the same manner as the front calendar dial, fits the available evidence well. Finally, I disagree with Price's opinion that gear wheels with certain numbers of teeth would be easier to divide than others and that the gear trains were arranged accordingly. The dividing and cutting of such gear teeth are discussed in a forthcoming paper by M. T. Wright. I sec no inherent difficulties in making gears with any arbitrary number of teeth and hence suppose no restraints on ancient designers from this source. I am attracted to the idea that dividing plates, possibly of timher, might have been divided first and then used to divide ur cut any number of gears with the same tooth count, or related multiples and submultiples, irrespective of the modulus. These dividing plates would have formed part of the "capital" of a gear making workshop. I Their use might explain the recurrence of certain gear teeth numbers and multiples in the Antikythera mechanism. Other methods of dividing gears are certainly possible, such as the use of a protractor by Richard of Wallingford, but all lead me to disagree with Price's opinion that the dividing would have influenced the design of the gear trains. I have not had an opportunity to examine the fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism at first hand. My reconstructions must, therefore, be considered as tentative only pending such examination by myself or other scholars.

Price')' Reconstruction The logical structure of Price', reconstruction is shown in Figure 2. The input is the contrate gear A which drives the main drive wheel B 1, gears B2 and 83, and a sun position dial through a ]15 gear reduction. From this a moon position dial (sidereal month) is driven by a gear ratio of 254/19 (or a step-up of about 13.4:1) through the gears B2/Cl+C2/Dl+D2/84.' This ratio is based on the Metonic cycle. The sun and moon positions are geared to the inputs Eland E2 of the differential. The output, the differential turntable E3, is thus driven at a rate E3='i>[E2-El] and hence rotates once in two lunar
Fi~url' 1

Allan G, !Ju;m!cy

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synodical months. The differential turntable. thus rotates ;H about 6.2 times the speed of wheel BJ. A gear train E3/Fl+F2/G2 with a ratio of 211 drives a lunar synodical dial at a rate 12.4 times the speed of BI. The intermediate gears Fl and F2 rotate at a rate 24.7 times the speed of the main drive wheel. The main wheel of the differential turntable E4, is unused in Price's reconstruction. ' A simple gear train GIIHl +H2!I with a ratio of 1211 drives an indicator for a lunar year of twelve synodical months. In Price's reconstruction the main drive wheel drives a gear train R2/1.1 + L2/M I + M2/N with a ratio of 4/1 of which the last step to the gear l\ is uncertain but may be intended to drive a "4 year dial". The continuation of this train N/OI +02 is even more uncertain and lacks a clear astronomical function.

Criticisms

of Price's Reconstruction of view a great weakness of Price's reconstep-up ratios required by his gear trains.' large (lifferential turntable with its load of K2 and the friction of its peripheral support

From a mechanical point struction is the substantial The step-up is 6.2: 1 to the additional gears J. Kl and

ring and brackets. The step-up is 24.7:1 to the gears Fl and F2 in the synodic month ;,train which arc, however, only lightly loaded by furti1Cr reduction gearing. To test the feasibility of this reconstruction 1 have built an approximate model of the main gear train using Meccano components, tire size of whose gear wheels and shafts arc similar to those of the Antikvthera mechanism. -If mounted with the dials vertical it was found essential to counterbalance the wheels J, KL K2 and their supports carried with the differential turntable. This would involve a counterweight of equal mass to these parts fixed to the turntable in roughly the present position of the axis I .. This supposition is perfectly feasible in the light of Price's descripuon of the remaining fragments. The corrosion of the cDunterwI,;ighL or a stress produced by its initial fixing might have contributed to the breaking away of the left half of the differential turntable. With the addition of the counterweight the mechanism is still difficult to set as the momentum of the gcar train, particularly the differential turntable, makes it difficult to move the main drive wheel, Bl, in such small increments as the one degree required for a day. The SII reduction ratio provided by the eontrate A helps, but not a great c1eal. In my model the periphery of the differential turntable is unsupported These additions will diminish the momentum effects but increase the friction. Backlash is also severe and would contribute much uncertainty in practice to the Indications of the lunar dials. The division of the lower back dial tu indicate the age of. the muon in half day units, as Price suggests, certainly could not be effectively exploited. Granted the relatively inefficient triangular tooth form used in the fragments I have very grave doubts as to whether the mechanism could be made to work at all in the manner proposed by Price's reconstruction. Much higher step-up ratios are commonly employed in clock mechanisms. These, however, use efficient low friction bearings made bv small pivots turning loosely in side plates, efficient tooth forms, and have low inertia at the high speed end of the gear train. Most importantly, the control by the clock escapement is exercised from the high speed end of the gear train which acts in the direction of the step-up only as a mea ns of transmi tting force.

10

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To my mind a major defect of Price's reconstruction is that there is no natural indication of a day, surely the most conspicuous of the astronomical phenomena whieh might he expected to be represented in a calendrical mechanism. Pricc's suggestion thar the crank handle be divided and marked in 73 days lacks both evidence and conviction. Further, it would provide an approximation to a year of considerably less accuracy than that of the gear train that embodies the Metonic cycle or of the arrangements of the front calendar dial ring. There remains, of course, the riddles posed by the purpose of the main gear E4 of the differential turntable and thc gear train H2ILl +L2iM I + M2/N/Ol +02.

Alternative

Uses ()f the Differential

My starting point for a new reconstruction of the Antikythcra Mechanism has been the high step-up ratios required by Price's reconstruction. These step-ups can be avoided most simply if till: gt:<lr train is driven [rom the high speed end with either the moon position (sidereal month) or synodical month as input. Driven in this way the gear trains that acted as step-ups now act as reductions and no mechanical difficulties arise. Backlash problems can be avoided if the mechanism is always turned in one direction before reading a dial. (This would happen naturally if there was some sort of automatic drive but I do nut know whether that is probable in this casc.) Three possible rearrangements of the differential and 254119 sidereal gear train of Price's reconstruction arc shown in Figure 3. Figure 3A shows Price's arrangement with the year as the input to the J~echanism, the sidereal month formed by the 254/19 step-up, and the synodical month formed by subtraction in the differential. Figure 38 shows a possible rearrangement with till> sidereal month as input, the year formcd by a 191254 reduction, and the synodical month formed by subtraction in the differential. In Figure 3C the synodical month is applied as the only input to the differeniinl. The two outputs of the differential arc constrained hy the 19/254 gear train to then exhibit the sidereal month and year. In practicc the gear train acts to transmit power in whichever direction is easicr and acts. therefore, as a 19/254 reduction ratio. In effect, the gear

l-lgurc

J.

train connecting the two outputs of the differential acts as a feedback loop to correctly constrain both outputs to the rates required. This third interconnection of the differential warrants some further justification. In essence, a diffe.rential acts only as a kinematic constraint on the relative speeds of its connecting shafts, the designation of illputs and outputs is not inherent in thc diffcrcntial mechanisrn but is characteristic only of each particular instance of our use of it. (In principle a spur gear train can be driven from any point.) Here the appropriate constraint is E3= ~;;[E2-E IJ which might better be written F.1-E2+2E3=O ro not distinguish one gear wheel from the others. The sidereal gear train imposes the further conxtr aint 19E2=254El, the relationship between solar and lunar sidereal periods ill the Metonic cycle. If the second constraint is substituted into the first we find 19(2EJ)=235El which, aside from the factor of 2 fOJ" E3 which must he made up in the gear trains connecting with the differential turn-

r
12
nn' A/ifil:yrill'1'lI Mcctranism

13

table, establishes the relationship of the Metonic cycle between the solar sidereal ami lunar synodical periods. These relationships apply equally to all three arrangcrncntx of the mechanism shown in Figure J. We remark further rhar the arrangement of Figure JC is that used in the common automobile; diffcrem ia l. The tail shaft, from the engine, drives the carrier of the differential as its only input. The road surface provides the constraint on the two half axles, carrying the wheels, which arc the outputs from the differential. On a straight road the two half axles turn at the same rate, but in a corner the road constrains them to turn at rates proportional to the radii of the circles around which they track.

Sidereal Month Synod~cal Month Sidereal Year

27.321661 Days 29.530581\ Days 365.256360 Days 13.368747 Sidereal Months 12.:168747 Synodical Months

Possible Synodical Gear Trains

Of the three arrangements shown, Figure 3C seems most applicable to the Antikythcra Mechanism as the main gear FA of the differential turntable, which is unused in Price', rcconsuuction , is an obvious end point for a gear train providing the synodical month input. The input to this gear train could be a shaft turned once per day or, as in the al Biruni design and the London Sundial-Calendar Wield and Wright], a shaft turned once per week although the date of the Antikythera Mechanism seems too carlv for the week to be naturally used. I commence by designing a gear train for the synodical month with the differential turntable gear 1:::4as the final gear. Price ascribes to this gear 222 teeth, on the radiographic evidence of Ka rak alos , though a near approximation should be acceptable. I adopt the further constraint that the synodical gear train should have an accuracy comparable with that of the Mctonic cycle, the only other place in which astronomical constants are embodied in the geared mechanism. It is evident from the arrangements of the front dials thai the JIl~ehanism represents sidereal year and month displays (rather than tropical displays). I have therefore taken the following constants after [Pedersen] but reduced to a uniform number of decimal places and the epoch of the Antikythera mechanism with [Allen]. (Secular changes to the present do noi , in fact, alter the calculated gear trains at ali.)

The Metonic cycle yields a sidereal year of 254/19= 13.368421 sidereal months so the error is about one pan in 40,000. To equal this accuracy a Dear train for the synodical month from a shaft turned once per day sh7lUid have a ratio or 29. 530'i"'x (Ul007()(). [The sidereal year diffe;, trom the tropical year by about 1 in 25,000 and the Metonic cycle gives a tropical year/sidereal month error of about 1 in 70,000. J The constraints are met by the ratio 945/32=29.531250. As the differential turntable rotates once in two synodical mouths the ratio would he used <1sI6/945. If the input were turned once per week, rather than 1lIJ1:e per day , the required ratio is simplified further to J6/135. ln either case 45 is a factor. and by introducing an aclditional factor of."i we can arrange to usc a gear of 225 teeth for E4 in the form 225 x 21iHO if the input is a day shaft (or 225x3/80 if the input is a week shaft) . Price's description of the Antikythera mechanism gives few clues as to how the additional synodic gear train can be accommodated. Neither does our chosen gear ratio provide milch guidance as it can be factored into very small integers (32/945=2'/3"'.5.7) ami there is therefore much flexibility in the design of the gear train. One possibility is that the synodical reduction is given by a gear train, such as 15!63+ I6/225 (E4) , in the upper right of the back of the mechanism. There seems ample space and Price's figures 14 and 15 suggest that supporting blocks for additional mechanism might have been located in this area. The arrangement shown in Figure 4 is entirely speculative, since so little evidence is available for guidance, but shows clearly how simple the gear train might be. A drive shaft might plausibly enter from the side of the case opposite the contrate gear A. {Alternatively the gears 01 and 02, and possibly also N, might be part of the gear train and the input might be one of the main or subsidiary back dials, but this seems unlikely.) This arrangement leaves unclear the purpose of the contr ate gear A. Is ir simply a reversing mechanism to cause the sun position indica-

14

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tor to turn in thc same sense as thc moon position? If so it is a complex way of going about a task that is performed far more neatly in the gearing of the differential. Possibly the contrate gear was connected to some auxiliary display outside the box containing the mechanism, but the period of about 115 year has no obvious significance unless a further reduction of the same amount took place in the auxiliary display. The alternative possibility is that the synodical gear train is formed by the gears L1, L2, M I and M2 with the contrate gear A serving as an input shaft turned once per day and the gear Bl introducing the factor 225. For this I must suppose that M2 meshes with E4 and that the gear B2 is really two separate gears each of 64 teeth, one of which is joined to and turns with Bl and drives Ll and hence the differential turntable whilst the other forms part of the sidereal gear train. The synodical gear train could thus be: AlB 1 50/225

50/225 501225 501224

+
+

64/35 64/35 64/35

+
+

52/96 56/96 56/96

+ + +

17/221 16/224 16/225

+ +

B2a/U 64136

+ +

L2/MI. 54/96

M2/E4 16/210

In this gear train M2 turns at the same speed as Bland the intervening gears provide just a 1:1 ratio as in Price's reconstructinn Tn that case a much simpler gear train would have sufficed as discussed later. Also 210 Leeth seems unacceptably few for E4. There are alternative gear trains which avoid these deficiencies:

Any of these seems quite acceptable. A possible reconstruction is shown in Figure 5. This general possi bility, that the synodical gear train i, driven from the coutratc A, via Bl and the axes L and M, docs nut seem precluded by the evidence in Price's description. However, the complexity of the arrangement leads me to feel that it cannot have been used. The difficulty of the high step-up ratio required by Price's reconstruction is avoided if a synodical gear train with a reduction of 16/945 is used tu drive the turntable, E4, uf the differential. The input to this gear train is turned once per day and provides a natural indication for this most important of astronomical phenomena. A simple gear train, such as is shown in Figure 4, in the upper right of the back of the Antikythera Mechanism is the most straightforward means of obtaining the desired ratio. The necessary gearwork is now completely missing.

t6

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17

The Upper

Back

Dials

Ernlr

Nodic;,[

Synodical Mourns I~ 23

Nodicnl
Months

Error

Years

The most natural use of the upper back dials would be: for the indication of eclipses ill conjunction with the synodical month dial below or, possibly. the sidereal dials 01 the front. I can see little purpose in a display of the anomalisuc month of the lunar perigee, or any similar functions. which seem of minimal importance compared with eclipses. There are three forms of indication that might naturally be used: (I) A Nodical (Draconitic) Month, showing the position of the moon relative to its nodes or, equivalently. of the nodes relative to the moun; (2) A Nodical (eclipse) Year, showing the position of the sun relative to t he moon's nodes. or vice versa: (.1) A longer cycle directly related to the eclipses such as the Suros.:' The only driving functions conveniently available 011 the back of the mechanism arc the svnodical month from the: differential turntable and the sidereal year-through the train BlUM. The most obvious mechanism is one based 011 the Saros of 19 eclipse years ~ 223 synodical months. As Price points out this requires a gear of 223 teeth. which cannot be E4. Such a gear, if made to the st.mdard modulus, is difficult to accommodate within the confines of the mechanism as indicated by the size of the plates. If mounted ncar the center (If the upper dials such a large gear would also obstruct the axis (J of the subsidiary dial. It seems necessary, therefore, to find a mcchanisrn that requires only smaller gears in the gear train. Some good rational approximations to the astronomical ratios arc shown in Table I. These arc derived from the constants Nodical Month Nodical Year 27.212220 O. 92J 493 346.62()[)31 ll.737661 Days Synodical Days Synodical

Ll
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129 [76 123 (SanlsJ 270 4~3 716

140
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242 79:1 5:15 777

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Priee for the upper dial, the division in 4 of the subsidiary dial, and the fact that gears of 47 and 51 teeth would mesh very nicely between the subsidiary and main dials (axes Nand 0) with the separation suggested by Price. I note, as Price has remarked [p36J that the gear N might simply be the missing gear J from the differential turntable which became displaced and corroded in isolation from the rest of the fragments. It has seemed to me prudent, therefore. to not attach over much sign ificance to this gear when considering possible gear trains for driving the upper back dial. None the Jess this gear is conveniently exploited in all of the arrangements I propose.

Months Months Possible Eclipse Gear Trains the upper back dial might display pleasing symmetry with the lower month would result. At the time of indicated by the synodical month indicate the closeness of the moon eclipse can occur. A solar ectipse

From the table the approximauon 4 eclipse years == 47 synodical months == 5l nodical months is appealing. The lower accuracy than the Saros may be of no moment since no great accuracy of indication of thc nodes is required for eclipse purposes. Particularly suggestive (though. as we shall scc , deceptive) is the 47 divisions propoxcd by

I consider first the possibility that the nodical (draconiric) month. A hack dial's display of the synodical any putative eclipse, a conjunction dial, the nodical month dial would to its node and hence whether an

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will occur if the moon, at conjunction, is within l3Y, degree of its node and may occur if the moun is within ISYo degree. Fur a lunar eclipse these li;,lit5 arc 9 degree and 12Y:, degree. A simple arrangement would be for the solar eclipse limits 10 he marked on one side of the dial with the lunar eclipse limits opposite. The axis N could then carry a double ended pointer corresponding to the two nodes of the moon's orbit. This arrangement is shown in Figure 6. A nodical month display is most naturally driven from the differential turntable if a high step-up ratio of gearing is to be avoided. A gear train similar to EJ/Fl + F2/G2 could drive axis 0 once per synodical month. A gear pair O/N of 51/47 would then cause N to rotate once per nodieal month. A possihle gear train would therefore be (EJ)192/48+30/60+5l/47(N). The train can be rearranged to fit the existing gears 0 and N, for example (E3)192/4R+Sl/47(02)+ (0 I)J2/64(N) as shown in Figure 7. There is ample space to accommodate the additional axis required between the differential turntable and the axis 0, possibly on their line of centers. An alternative arrangement would be for E3 to have 204 teeth with a nodical gear train of 204!4R+4R/47+J2/64, so that the intermediate axis carries only an idler wheel, and a synodical train of 204/51 + 3()160. Either alternative

accords "eli enough with Price's evidence [or the numbers of teeth un the various gear wheels. Clearly, only a small cumulative error can be tolerated in the indication of the nodical month. About 3 degree. or a quarter of a dccan , seems the maximum that could be accepted though 1 degree, say , would be preferable if that accuracy in making the gears could be achieved, The S1I47 ratio is in error by about 1 in 12,000 so an error of :1 degree in the nodical month display will accumulate in about '100 lunations or eight years. Within this time the dial would have to be reset, presumeably by rotating the ring on which the eclipse ranges arc marked. This cumulative error is comparable with that of the calendar ring on the front dial, but seems an undesirable characteristic of this proposed mechanism. (If the 242/233 ratio of the Saros could be implemented it would take about 120 years for an unacceptable error to accumulate. The other ratios possible do not lead to attractive possibilities for the gear train.) The great objection to the proposed mechanism of a dial for the nodical month i, that the markings required for the upper back dial seem to bear no relationship to those suggested, somewhat tentatively, by Price. Further, there seems little purpose for the display by the subsidiary dial. which rotates once in two nodical months, or for the additional outer dial rings. Another limitation is that the dials provide no predictive indication of the possibility of an eclipse (if the mechanism is driven automatically) until the time of the conjunction itself. A display of the nodical (eclipse) year could be made with a similar

20

Allan

(i.

tsro.ntev

dial to that suggested in Figure 6. Here it is the position of the sun relative to the moon's nodes that is displayed. If driven from the synodical month by the differential turntable using the ratio 4/47 the error in the gear train is about 1 in 1,000 and the dial would have to be reset every eight months. This is quite unacceptable. More accurate ratios do not lead to likely gear trains. Alternatively, a nodical year dial might be driven from the sidereal year motion via the gear train B2/L1M/N. There are excellent approximations to the required ratio obtainable with small integers such as 20/19,39/37. and 98/93 - the last having an error of only I in 400,000. However, the small size of \12.14-16 teeth, argues strongly that if the drive is from the sidereal year the upper back dial turns much more slowly than the nodical year - indeed, in about the four years suggested by Price. The final possibility is that the upper back dial indicates a longer period such as the Saros of 223 lunations or the 18.61 year period of the moon's nodes. Here the division of the dials described by Price suggests a possible mechanism. I suppose that the 223 Iunations of the Saros are marked off on the four rings of the upper back dial by a single pointer on axis N and that the subsidiary dial 011 axis indicates which of these rings is to be read. The divisions on the rings would be marked with an indication of the type of eclipse that will occur in that lunation and thus readily serves a predictive function. With this arrangement each ring would have 223/4 or about 56 divisions. Whilst this is nut dose to the 47 or 48 divisions suggested by Price [p 151 his observation is uncertain and further cleaning of the fragment is required to clarify the actual arrangements of the dial. No uncertainty is suggested by Price [p40] for the division into four of the subsidiary dial If the Saros is not to be obtained by a reduction of 223 from the synodical month the alternative is a reduction of about 18.030 from the sidereal year via the train B2/L1M!N. A reduction of 4.500 from B2 to 'i can easily be obtained by adjusting Price's train SO that M2 has 14 teeth and 'i has 63 as shown in Figure 8. These are cxacrlv thc counts suggested by Karakalos [Price, p~:\6J. The error in this approximation is about 1 in 600 so the error in the indication amounts to about a third of a lunation over the 18 year Saros cycle. This is easily corrected by

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B.l.SE P"_ATE ~

21

---------

eece

Figure

resetting the dial rings, the lower back synodical dial enabling the resetting to be done quite accurately. Aside from the uncertainty of the division of the dial rings this arrangement presents one difficulty when applied to the Antikythera Mechanism. A 1/4 reduction gear train is required from N to 0. This could easily be obtained by a 20 tooth pinion on N and an 1:<0 tooth gear on 0, both cut to the standard modulus. This dot's 1I0t accord with the preserved 48 tooth gear 02. I suppose that the reduction was obtained by a two stage gear train such as 24/4R+24/48 via an intermediate axis at the top of fragment B that is now lost. This would mean that the subsidiary dial turned in the same direction as the main upper dial. A minor difficulty that remains is why a simpler gear train, with a single idler gear, is not used for the train B2/LfM as discussed later. An alternative arrangement might be to implement the 18.61 year period of the retrograde motion of the moon's nodes. Either of the simple gear ratios 56!3=18.67 with an error of 1 in 300 or 93/5=18.60 with an error of 1 in 2,000 could be used. Neither leads to a gear train that fits B2/L1M/N closely enough to be attractive. Nor is it clear just how the rings would be marked and manipulated. The initial attraction of this arrangement, that it implements a true astronomical period, seems eliminated by the apparent reference to the Saros in the door plate inscription [Price, p50]. The most natural lise for the upper back dials is as an indication for

22

AI/(II1 G, Itromli-v

TI/i. ,111/ikYlhatl

Mectumism

'-igun .. '

lI.

eclipses. This might he achieved by having the dial indicate the passage of the nodical (draconitic) month. Although a suitable gear train can he found the arrangement of the main and subsidiary upper hack dials seems quite inappropriate. All III year approximation to the Saros cycle of eclipses fits the available gear trains particularly well and exploits the upper back dials as well as the current evidence of their division will allow.

Other Puzzles A number of other puzzles remain in the reconstruction of the Antik ythcru Mechanism. I make brief note of these here, but cannot pretend to offer more than simple speculations. The Front Dials: Price notes evidence that some additional, possibly substantial, mechanism was car ried by the main drive wheel B I and suggests that it might have been a similar ge<lr rotated in the opposite direction by the contrate gear A. Some reversal is necessary for the solar and lunar sidereal dials to move in thc same direction. I find this suggestion unplausiblc. A contrate is all awkward device for obtaining a reverse motion (though it has pragmatic advantages in Price's reconstruction) and much simpler and more compact arrangements using only spur gear wheels are evidenced by the gearing carricd by the differential turntable. A possible arrangement is shown in Figure 9. It would be most unnatural to support the contra-rotating

gear on B 1. It could be carried far more simply by the fixed plates in the same manner as B I itself. Indeed, I cannot imagine any plausible way that the contrarotuting gear can be supported by B I without obstructing either the contrate gear or the indicator for the sidereal year at some points during the rotation. The sidereal gear train: I do not find Price's explanation of the gear train B2/CI+C2/DI [p42J very convincing. I do not see any especial difficulty in cutting a pinion of 19 teeth for [) I to the same accuracy as the ot her gear wheels in the ruechanisru and thus reducing Cl +C2 to an idler gear, particularly if the gear train is driven as a reduction gearing as I suggest. Granted the choice of the gear train Price describes, the question remains as to why the gears C2 and D I arc cut to a smaller modulus. The standard modulus could have been used simply hy displacing the axis C to one side of the line of axes B and D. The gear train B2/LlM: Similar questions arise tor the gear train H2/LiM it the axis M i~ to be turned at just the solar sidereal rate so that a L/l ratio is required. ]J MI had 64 teeth, as B2, an idler gear only would be required on axis L. This would have about 27 teeth if located on the center line of the mechanism mid-way between axes B and M but it could have more teet h if it were placed to one side. The synodical dials: Price suggests, most reasonably, that the division of the outer ring of the lower hack dial indicates the age of the moon in half days. The purpose of the three inner rings is unclear. They might plausibly be intended to mark significant days in the months of some religious or civil lunar calendar. Alternatively, the rings might indicate in a crude manner either the nodical month, and hence the declination of the moon relative to the ecliptic, or the anornalisuc month, and hence the velocity of the moon in its orbit or its position relative to the mean moon. These latter alternatives arc improbable since the rings would need to be reset frequently by hand and the indication could be obtained more easily on the sidereal month dial of the front.

24

Alian

G. Bromtey

:,:~:" " i-t

254

25

,.

Ytll'

Ficurc II.

Conclusion I believe that the high step-up ratios required in Price's rcconstruction uf the Antikyt hera mechanisrn , and the consequent uncertainty in the indications given, are an insuperable impediment to his proposals. The mechanical difficulties are entirely removed if the differential turntable is made the input to the mechanism and is turned at the lunar synodical rate. This approach has the considerable advantage that a natural means for indicating the clay as an astronomical unit is also provided. The upper back dial should most naturally be used to indicate the occurrence of eclipses. A direct cnurucration of the lunations of the Saros cycle of the eclipses agrees well with the evidence of thc gear trains and the arrangement of the dials. /\ reconstruction of the mechanism with the I321L/M train used in a Saros cycle drive to the upper hack dials is shown in Figures 10 and 11. This rccousuuction req uircs a complete synodical drive train as well as another axis in the gear (rain between Nand 0 additional to those preserved in the fragments. However, the trains are quite natural and the indications of the dials convenient. For these reasons I favour this reconstruction.

;\llatJ

G, Rromlt.!y

Important difficulties still remain in this reconstruction with respect to the solar sidereal dial, particularly with regard to the apparent use of the contratc gear A and the large wheel D 1 as a reversing mechanism which I consider particularly awkward, and in the purpose of the multiple rings of thc lower back synodical dial. The elucidation of these I must leave to others. A most significant contribution to clarifying the proposals discussed in this paper could be made by further cleaning of the LIpper back dials and the axis 0 of fragment B and axis N of fragment D.

r
an ..1 drive-r [)2, Etc, If these symbols wheels th ....1 111l.' 1 gear I rain prnvidcs
<I

27

NOTES l . 1<1111 indctuc ..1 III Mr. F. 1\, Percival for Ihi:- suggestion. 2, In Illy nnlalill;} ~4,:ar!> nrc described ill the sequence they arc encountered in tile gcur train \,'ht'f} [I aced f nuu the driving. cud. Here ~l:ar Il2 drives CI, ('2 is fixed Oil the same shaft ;:s ('J tksignill..! th .. numbers , rcducuon of teeth on the
l)

cspccrivc Sup-up

gear gear

r.uio of C'lfBlx

IICZx 1>4/02,

(raill:-',:11 which Ilit, OUlpUI (LlIW, at a faster rate ihun the il1PIII, are (ksign;tlcd :'y \hIX":S with ,I bold outline. .', I nm indebted to Mr. M_ T, Wriehl of the Science 'vtuecum , London,
(01'

in 1111: figul't'}>

bringmg this

hI

my

.uteution. The poinr nos. I undcrstnnd, varsity 01 warwick.

been made pubficty hy Professor

Zeeman

of the Uui-

Acknowledgement My interest in mathematical gear work was reawakened by contact with the I.oncion Sundial-Calendar whilst a Visiting Research Fellow at the Science Museum. London. 1 am ever grateful for the continuing hospitality of the Science Museum and, in this instance, for the patience and enthusiasm of Michael T. Wright to whom 1 owe a particular debt for drawing my attention to the high step-up ratios in Price's ro;:construction of the Anrik ytheru mechanism which provided both the motivation and the key to the work presented here. I have also profiled by discussions with Frank Percival and John Blackler.

d,

1 ,1m

(\\'/:lrl'

that

tilt:

11<11111:

'S'lf(\!>I;:h;k!> hi .... IOLC;.1!validity,

[OWt:VCf,

it ucatty cncupsutcs the

subject

or

Illy drscusvinn.

REFEHE'iCES
Alh-n , I". W _ A,\'fm"hysh'.11 O. omlc (jlumti!;(.', .., Athlonc of Astronomical Press. University of London. IlJh:1,
JO/lO/(//,

y.

t\.

G _. "The

Design

Gear

Twins",

The Noro{ogica/ Annals

Vol . 128

19-2], December Ficld , 1. V" and Wright.

N7-I:H. IWiS,

rr,

19R5. and PI;. 10-1,. M, T, "Ci(!ar~ from

March 19t16, the Byzantines".

of Science. Vol. ':;2. pp.

Pedersen. 0,. A Sun'I'Y ()J the Almt/f,l'J/, Odcnsc Uuivcrstty press. 11.)74, Pricc , D_ til.' S __"Gears Irom rlu- (Ire'''k.,,: The Antikythcrn Mechanism -,\ Calendar Computer 1I1I11I1.:U, Be", 'liw,sf/OiOlt.'u)f,h(' Anu-rirun Phi/o,';f}phic-uI5iuo"cty Vol. (1'1. (lJ7:1; also pubNI le-hcd
;1~ a

monll!!-rilph,
"E:1r1y

Science

Hi-aory l-ubliratious
t)

, New York.

19/5,

Wri~h{, M, T"

Whcclwork ". in rr.:par'ali:1