Decoding the Heavens

{{Short description|Book by Jo Marchant}}

{{Infobox book |

| name = Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-old Computer and the Century Long Search to Discover Its Secrets

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image = File:Decoding the Heavens.jpg

| caption = First edition

| author = Jo Marchant

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| country =

| language = English

| series =

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = William Heinemann Ltd.

| release_date = November 2008

| media_type = Print (Hardback)

| pages = 336 pp

| isbn = 0-434-01835-X

| oclc= 230989682

| preceded_by =

| followed_by =

}}

Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-old Computer and the Century Long Search to Discover Its Secrets by Jo Marchant is an exploration of the history and significance of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient mechanical calculator (also described as the first known mechanical computer)"[http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/general/the-project.html The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428070448/http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/general/the-project.html |date=2008-04-28 }}", The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Retrieved 2009-05-29[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/30/AR2006113001303.html Washington Post] Quote: Imagine tossing a top-notch laptop into the sea, leaving scientists from a foreign culture to scratch their heads over its corroded remains centuries later. A Roman shipmaster inadvertently did something just like it 2,000 years ago off southern Greece, experts said late Thursday. designed to calculate astronomical positions. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until a thousand years later.

Marchant approaches the mystery of the mechanism in a narrative that begins with the discovery of the Antikythera wreck in 1901 and includes a primer on the development of scuba gear in the 19th century. Throughout the book, Marchant weaves ancient history with the lives and travails of the handful of contemporary scientists who bucked conventional wisdom with their belief that the mechanism embodied technological and mathematical expertise thought to be impossible for its time. It is believed to have been built about 150–100 BC and yet the delicate bronze clockwork it embodies would not be known to Europe until the Middle Ages.

The author acknowledges (p. 302) that none of the principal researchers [http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/team/academic.html "The academic team"]{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Retrieved 2009-06-07 from the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project were involved "in any way" with the writing of the book. The project has published a commentary [http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/notes-comments-decoding-the-heavens "Notes and Comments on Decoding the Heavens"] that sets out problems with the book's account of their work.

The book's account of the collaboration between Michael Wright and Allan Bromley is disputed.[http://www.connectives.com/decoding-the-heavens-bromley-comments.html "Decoding the Heavens: Mistakes and Misinterpretations"]