Decoding the heavens

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• Tuesday 28 July 2009
• 7.00pm - 8.30pm
• Lecturers: Dr Jo Marchant

In 1900, a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an ancient shipwreck, dating from around 70 BC.

It was full of Greek statues and jewellery - the finest collection of ancient treasure that had ever been discovered. But lying unnoticed for months amongst the divers' hard-won haul was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock. Then it cracked open, revealing gearwheels, inscriptions and precisely marked scales - it was and still is the most stunning scientific artefact we have from antiquity. For more than a century this 'Antikythera mechanism' has puzzled academics. It was ancient clockwork, unmatched in complexity for more than 1000 years - but who could have made it, and what was it for? Now, more than 2000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings and revealed its secrets.

In this lecture, author Jo Marchant tells the story of the 100-year quest to understand this ancient computer, and explains how it used surprisingly sophisticated astronomy to accurately predict the motions of the heavens. Along the way she unearths a diverse cast of characters - ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau - and explores the deep roots of modern technology not only in ancient Greece but in the Islamic world and medieval Europe too. At heart an epic adventure, this is a story that challenges our assumptions about technology transfer over the ages while giving us fresh insights into history itself.

Tickets cost £8 standard, £6 concessions, £4 Ri Members.