Is the Antikythera Mechanism the “first computer”?

Salvaged from 82 pieces from a shipwreck, the Antikythera Mechanism is commonly referred to as the “first computer.” With 3D modelling, the Antikythera Mechanism was decoded from its remnants. Surprising archaeologists and historians, the technology found in the Mechanism was way beyond its time and used gear trains to keep track of the stars and planets. The entire mechanism was the size of a shoebox. Although the Antikythera Mechanism was a technological marvel when it was made, the claim that it was the “first computer” is debatable.

Even though the claim that the mechanism was the “first computer” is unclear, it is undisputed that the Antikythera Mechanism was the first mechanical clock. Just like a clock it had a face with rotating hands to indicate the time, but instead of displaying time with seconds and minutes, it displayed time though the location of many different planets and stars. It enabled the ancient Greek to track the seasons, festivals and even eclipses.

What is a computer?

Nowadays, most computers are digital machines that rely on electricity as an energy source to function. However, the predecessors to digital computers were analog computers that relied on mechanical energy. The differences between an analog and a digital computer were not only based on their power sources but also on how they sent signals. Even a mechanical watch fits in the category of an analog computer with the use of gear trains and hands to keep track of time. An analog computer used physical quantities such as water or the hands on a clock to send signals while digital computers symbolized these quantities via a monitor.

According to the definition of an analog computer, the Antikythera Mechanism is the “first computer”; however, this claim is quite misleading for the public that is more accustomed to modern digital computers rather than analog computers. The mechanism is much more like a mechanical clock than a digital computer.

The ENIAC was the first digital computer. Instead of the Antikythera Mechanism, the ENIAC should hold the title of the “first computer” due to modern society being more accustomed to digital computers rather than analog computers.

The Antikythera Mechanism is undoubtedly a hidden technological marvel and displays how the ancient Greeks were able to understand their natural environment; however, the title of the “first computer,” while being technically correct, is on many levels misleading.