How the Greeks Kept Time - (MISC)

The New York Times has an interesting story about an ancient Greek astronomical "computer" called the Antikythera Mechanism, which apparently predicted solar eclipses and kept time in a four year calendar.

The device was first discovered about one hundred years ago in the wreckage of a tiny ship that sank off the coast of a tiny island called Antikythera, north of Crete. It is believed the device was built between 140 and 100 B.C.

Using high-resolution imaging and three-dimensional X-ray tomography, researchers have discovered an ancient twelve month calendar and the names of all twelve months.

Apparently the device reconciled lunar months with the sun year (12 lunar months are 11 days short of the earth's rotation around the sun) by utilizing a 19 year calendar.

There is also a wealth of information about the device on the Nature Magazine web site.