Presented by Professor Tony Freeth

From its discovery by Greek sponge divers in 1901, there has been a history of scientific research on the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism – an astonishingly complex and accomplished astronomical calculating machine. Much of this research has been controversial, with passionate arguments on both sides, and much of it wrong. Today, after new data gathering in 2005, most of the structure and functions of the Mechanism have been settled, including how it predicted eclipses and the extraordinary way that it models the variable motion of the Moon. But there is still no certainty about some aspects of the Mechanism, such as exactly how it followed the motions of the planets.

A key question in archaeological reconstruction is the degree of certainty that we can have in different components of the reconstruction. This presentation follows a trail of scientific clues and de-constructs the Antikythera Mechanism to ask: how certain can we be about how each aspect of the Antikythera Mechanism worked and what it did?

Tony Freeth has a background both as a mathematician and a filmmaker. All these skills came together when he encountered the Antikythera Mechanism.

He read mathematics at Cambridge University and stayed for more advanced study in mathematical logic and algebraic topology. Moving to Bristol University, he did an MSc and a PhD in mathematical logic. Tony Freeth then decided to become a filmmaker! He trained professionally at the National Film School, and made documentary films for TV and independent production for more than 25 years.

After learning of the Antikythera Mechanism in the year 2000, Tony Freeth became increasingly fascinated — but he was deeply frustrated by the lack of good data. In 2001 he proposed new investigations: high resolution 3D X-rays and digital surface imaging, finally carried out by a scientific team in 2005. This complex and difficult operation used everything Tony Freeth had learned making documentary films!

The results opened a new window on Antikythera research. Two of Tony Freeth’s most prominent discoveries were the identification of eclipse prediction and the revelation of how the Mechanism followed the lunar anomaly — both published in the prestigious journal Nature. A sequence of discoveries followed, many of these focused on the mathematical basis of the Antikythera Mechanism: an instrument of mathematical astronomy, designed by a genius!

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