The Computer in the Aegean
So, this is a special purpose measurement tool with some automation, and it is not a computer. The way the word computer is understood today is an automatic, general purpose, stored program, electronic computer. The Antikythera mechanism, OTOH, is a complex, slightly automated, astrolabe. There is a very fundamental conceptual leap that the the astrolabe fails to make which is that all calculation can be done by a machine made of rather simple parts: switches.<p>All of that said, I think the main reason that the Antikythera mechanism continues to be fascinating is that people have a very haughty view of the modern world and modern civilization, and they assume that people of the past were dullards (with zero evidence to support the view). I would wager that people have always been rather smart, but that we’ve merely become increasingly specialized over time.