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CREATED BY
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These files were created by Kemal Tfeki in Slidwrks !"#$ d%rin& the mnth f December !"#$'
and released (an%ary !"#)*
+lease kee, this readme with the files*
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$D +R-.T-./0A1T2E.T-C-TY -.34
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-t isn5t ,erfect* There are a few iss%es that w%ld kee, if frm wrkin& if y% $D ,rinted this'
and a few mre iss%es that make it nt cm,letely a%thentic t the ri&inal 6echanism* 2ere are
the ,laces where the mdel differs frm the Antikythera 6echanism* Italicized iss%es kee, it frm
wrkin& well if it was $D ,rinted*
#7 All &ears e8ce,t fr the l%nar ,hase &eartrain are ass%med t ha9e a md%le f "*:* This is
act%ally the mean 9al%e f the md%les fr all &ears in the 6echanism* A mre acc%rate mdel
w%ld acc%nt fr 9ariatins in the &ears* In one instance, this creates a collision between a
gear and a support as it travels around. A few &ears sh%ld als be thicker (the main gear would
have to be thicker to support weight).
!7 - didn5t %se 9al%es fr the ,in ,lacement radii n the e,icycle &ears* These can be f%nd in
3reeth and (nes5 ;The Csms in the Antikythera 6echanism*;
$7 Tw indicatrs sh%ld slide nt the 6etnic and Sars ,inters' and track in the en&ra9ed
s,iral n the back face* Slidwrks had iss%es with a tan&ent relatinshi, t a s,iral' s these
are s%,,ressed in the mdel <b%t are still there=7*
)7 The Antikythera 6echanism %sed a cmbinatin f adhesi9es' ,ins' and frictin fits as
fasteners* The model uses no fasteners, and would need a few if printed. All the &ears that need
t ha9e lcked rtatins are keyed and s,aced %t with s,acers' b%t some of the keys are really
small loose pieces and should be changed.
5) There are no tolerances built into this model.
>7 - was %nable t determine what srt f &ear ,rfiles the Antikythera 6echanism %sed* The mdel
%ses in9l%te ,rfiles* olidworks was having issues creating these profiles in a couple cases,
and a few gears don!t mesh perfectly.
?7 The wden frame' ,inters' and ,sts ha9e n remains' and s are creati9e inter,retatins*
The lar&e ,inters sh%ld be rem9able in the real mdel t allw the indicatrs t reset*
@7 The ,lanet ,sitins are nt Aered t any celestial day*
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B-CE.S-./ -.34
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- am distrib%tin& this t the ,%blic %nder a Creati9e Cmmns Attrib%tin $*" Sharealike Bicense*
That means y% are free t %se' edit' and redistrib%te these files s ln& as y% a7 credit me
fr ri&inally makin& them' and b7 a,,ly the same license whene9er y% redistrib%te it* This
means they will be fre9er free*
Cith the fllwin& e8ce,tins=
#7 The files ;,late back*sld,rt; and ;a8le assembly a*sldasm; are frm the ed%catinal 9ersin f
Slidwrks and can nly be %sed fr ed%catinal ,%r,ses* - dn5t knw hw that ha,,ened' beca%se
- ha9e the cmmercial 9ersin f slidwrks* - m%st ha9e edited smethin& n my schl5s
cm,%ters*
!7 The files ;,late back lwer dial 9)*,n&; and ;,late back %,,er dial 9)*,n&; are taken frm
3reeth et al* ;Calendars with 4lym,iad and Ecli,se +redictin n the Antikythera 6echanismD
S%,,lementary .tes;' and sli&htly edited by me* C,yri&ht beln&s t ri&inal wners' hwe9er
beca%se it is a ,%blished ,a,er all ed%catinal %ses are fair %se*
$7 The file ;,late frnt 9!*,n&; is taken frm this ima&e
<htt,D00www*stt*net0ima&e0ima&e0s!0)E!!>0f%ll0AntikytheraF&ra,hicFbi&*G,&7' ri&inally made by
(* E9ans and A* Thrndike' and sli&htly edited by me* C,yri&ht beln&s t ri&inal wners*
The main reference for these columns is printed: the monograph, cited below, by the famous Yale
historian of science Derek De Solla Price (other printed references) !n the web one can find the
complete te"t of his #$%$ Scientific American article on the sub&ect ' ( )eeman, *+, ,-S
deli.ered lectures on the topic in #$$/ at the 0ni.ersity of Te"as, San 1ntonio and at Trinity
(ollege, Dublin The 23 transparencies from these lectures are on the web and it4s almost like
being there (see his paper for more detail) Di.ing+um 'nterprises has a page with a photograph
of the curent installation in the 5ational 6useum of 1rchaeology, 1thens (hris -orres4 page
Spheres and Planetaria on the Dre"el 0ni.ersity site has a nice photograph of Price himself -ob
S -ice of the 0ni.ersity of Pennsyl.ania has posted a .ery useful paper on the sub&ect, from a
#$$% 0S 5a.al 1cademy symposium on 5a.al 7istory 1 li.ely sketch of De Solla Price4s
scientific and human personality can be found in the ,oreword, by -obert * 6erton and 'ugene
8arfield, to one of his books
1. The history of the Mechanism
The 1ntikythera 6echanism is the name gi.en to an astronomical calculating de.ice, measuring
about 32 by #9 by #: cm, which was disco.ered in #$:: in a sunken ship &ust off the coast of
1ntikythera, an island between (rete and the 8reek mainland Se.eral kinds of e.idence point
incontro.ertibly to around /: +( for the date of the shipwreck The de.ice, made of bron;e
gears fitted in a wooden case, was crushed in the wreck, and parts of the faces were lost, <the rest
then being coated with a hard calcareous deposit at the same time as the metal corroded away to
a thin core coated with hard metallic salts preser.ing much of the former shape of the bron;e<
during the almost 2::: years it lay submerged The =uotation is from Derek de Solla Price4s
monograph Gears from the Greeks ... in the #$>? Transactions of the 1merican Philosophical
Society (@olume 9?, part >)
General plan of all gearing, composite diagram
from De Solla Price, Transactions of the 1merican Philosophical
Society @ol 9? 5o > (#$>?) -eproduced with permission
At is hard to e"aggerate the
singularity of this de.ice, or
its importance in forcing a
complete reBe.aluation of
what had been belie.ed about
technology in the ancient
world ,or this bo" contained
some 32 gears, assembled
into a mechanism that
accurately reproduced the
motion of the sun and the
moon against the background
of fi"ed stars, with a
differential gi.ing their
relati.e position and hence
the phases of the moon At is
enough to know that there is
no trace of anything like it
until around #::: 1D, and
that when it was first
published there were serious
suggestions that it had been
dropped into the wreck at a
much later date or e.en that it
was the work of alien
astronauts
The general plan of the
gearing could only be drawn
after #$># when, on De Solla
Price4s instigation, the
remnants of the mechanism
were .iewed with gamma
rays, which could penetrate
the calcareous block in which
the gears were embedded
Then careful counting of
teeth, and e"amination of the
way the gears meshed,
showed that <the gear ratios
could be associated with wellB
known astronomical and
calendrical parameters<
(Price) and allowed the
almost complete description
of how the de.ice must ha.e
functioned
This is the first of two
columns on the 1ntikythera
6echanism An each we will
e"amine one part of the
mechanism that has special
mathematical interest This
month it is the SunB6oon
assembly, ne"t month: the
Differential 8ear
BBTony Phillips
SUNY at Stony Brook
2. Pictures of a Mechanism
7ere are three significant illustrations from Derek de Solla Price4s monograph on the 1ntikythera
6echanism They are reproduced from the Transactions of the 1merican Philosophical Scoiety,
with permission
These two images are of the same fragment (<(#<) before and after cleaning The first one is
shown at halfBscale At gi.es some idea of the state of the mechanism when it was disco.ered
Shrinkage of the wood casing as it dried caused it the relic to split into se.eral fragments, thereby
e"posing some of the bron;e gearwork !therwise the true nature of what was inside the
calcareous lump might ne.er ha.e been suspected !n the second can be seen the only remaining
part of the dial on the front of the mechanism The rulings are ob.ious (lose e"amination shows
the name of a month on the outer (mo.able) ring, and one and a half names of ;odiac
constellations on the inner
This is a gamma radiograph of one of the fragments (<1<) of the mechanism The gears can be
matched with their positions in the gearplan The three concentric bands at the lower left are part
of the display dials on the back of the mechanism, whose function is not completely understood
3. The Sun-Moon Assembly
Amages by +ill (asselman
These two images gi.e a schematic .ersion of De Solla Price4s general gear planC on the right the
color picks out the subBassembly connecting the sun4s motion to that of the moon
The sun marker and the moon marker were dri.en by the two central gears (the moon a"is
threaded through the sun4s), e"actly like the hour and minute hands on a modern clock The train
of gears linking the sun4s motion to that of the moon can be described by the meshing pattern and
the numbers of teeth
The sun gear has 9? teeth At meshes with the smaller of a
3/,?/ gear pair The ?/ meshes with the smaller of a 2?,#2>
gear pair The #2> meshes with the 32 teeth of the moon
gear The ratio of angular speeds can then be calculated as
>) )@ #!? !:)
HH I HH I HHH = HHH = #$*$>@)!**
$@ !) $! #E
which is an e"cellent appro"imation of the astronomical
ratio #339/29>
Since the sunBmoon linkage in.ol.es an odd number of meshings, the two gears will turn in
opposite directions ,or the display to be realistic the sun and the moon must mo.e the same
way An the de.ice this was accomplished by a .ertical <contrate< gear (marked 1 in De Solla
Price4s plan) linking the sun gear to an identical gear abo.e it, which thus turned at the same
speed but in the opposite direction
This image can be
&a.aBanimated At
shows the operation
of the SunB6oon
assembly, with a
somewhat fanciful
simulation of the
display An the actual
de.ice, the ;odiac
constellations were
represented by their
8reek names (<Dibra<
and the end of
<@irgo< are
decipherable in the
relic) The
constellationB
schemata used here
are imitations of the
more accurate
.ersions in Find the
onstellations by 7
1 -ey, 7oughtonB
6ifflin (o, +oston,
#$//
Ea.a animation: 8!
(by +ill (asselman,
0ni.ersity of +ritish
(olumbia)
4. Gear ratios and continued fractions
At is interesting to speculate how the first century +( designers of the 1ntikythera 6echanism
were able to disco.er the e"cellent rational appro"imation 2%?F#$ G #339/?2#:% to the
astronomical ratio #339/29> The error is ::::#%, which corresponds to one part in /9,:::
The most economical e"planation is that in keeping records, early astronomers were struck by
the almost e"act duplication of the pattern of e=uino"es and solstices (sun) and phases of the
moon in a #$Byear cycle 5ineteen years almost e"actly matches 23% lunarBphase cycles
(<synodic months<), which correspond to 23%H#$G2%? re.olutions of the moon with respect to
the stars At picks up an e"tra one each year from its trip with us around the sun
+ut part of the answer comes from the astronomical ratio itself, which turns out to be one of
those numbers that can be .ery well appro"imated by rationals This is manifest in its continued
fraction e"pansion:
#$*$>@!>?** = J#$' !' #' !' #' #' #?' ***K
#
= #$ L HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
#
!L HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
#
#L HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
#
!L HHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
#
#L HHHHHHHHHHHH
#
#L HHHHHHHH
#
#?L HHHH
etc
Stopping the process after the last <#H< gi.es the <continuant< 2%?F#$ used in the 1ntikythera
6echanism (ontinuing with the the #> gi.es the ne"t continuant, ??9%F33? The large increase
in the denominator comes from the #>
7ere is a useful fact from the theory of continued fractions:
I Suppose ,
n
0M
n
and ,
nL#
0M
nL#
are consecuti.e continuants, and that B is the number
represented by the continued fraction Then
I # ,
n
#
I HHHHHHHH N OB H HHH O N HHHHHHH *
I ! M
n
M
nL#
M
n
M
n
M
nL#

This means on the one hand that the error in any continuant is less than one o.er the product of
its denominator with the denominator of the ne!t continuant So the appro"imation 2%?F#$ is
guaranteed to ha.e an error less than #F(#$"33?) G :::#%>9 &ust from the continued fraction
e"pansion of the astronomical ratio !n a different planet things would ha.e gone otherwise Af
that #> had been a #, then 2%?F#$ would still be a continuant, but the denominator of the ne"t
continuant would only be 3: The other side of the same analysis then guarantees an error of at
least ::://
References
I 1llan +romley, 5otes on the 1ntikythera 6echanism, enta"r"s 2 (#$/9) pp %B2>
+romley proposes a plausible gearing plan, different in some important details from
Price4s The differences do not in.ol.e either of the gear assemblys e"amined here
I Derek de Solla Price, 8ears from the 8reeks B The 1ntikythera 6echanism, 1 (alendar
(omputer from ca /: +(, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society !4, part
> #$>?
I Derek de Solla Price, 1n 1ncient 8reek (omputer, Scientific American Eune #$%$ pp 9:B
9>
I ( D !lds, ontin"ed Fractions, -andom 7ouse (5ew 6athematical Dibrary) 5ew York
#$93 (The result =uoted is Theorem 3/ on p >?)
I ' ( )eeman, 8ears from the 8reeks, Proceedings of the #oyal $nstit"tion (8+) "#
(#$/9) #3>B#%9
CAD files for the Antikythera Mechanism
Antikythera Mechanism, CAD, engineering, projects
By request, Im making the CAD files for the model of the Antikythera Mechanism that I created freely
available. Click that link for an overvie! of the "ro#ect.$
Do!nload the Antikythera Mechanism from %oogle Drive here. &oull need 'olid!orks to o"en it.$
It isnt "erfect. (here are a fe! issues that !ould kee" it from !orking if you )D "rinted this, and a fe!
more issues that make it not com"letely authentic to the original Mechanism. *ere are the "laces !here
the model differs from the Antikythera Mechanism. Italicized issues kee" it from !orking if it !as )D
"rinted. I estimate it !ould take me +,-., hours to fi/ them it !ould require a redo of a lot of "arts$, !hich
I dont really have time for right no!. But0 if someone had access to a )D "rinter and !ould "rint me a
co"y "ro bono, I might be motivated enough to clean it u".
# All gears e/ce"t for the lunar "hase geartrain are assumed to have a module of ,... (his is
actually the mean value of the modules for all gears in the Mechanism. A more accurate model
!ould account for variations in the gears. In one instance, this creates a collision between a gear
and a support as it travels around. A fe! gears should also be thicker.
2 I didnt use values for the "in "lacement radii on the e"icycle gears. (hese can be found in 1reeth
and 2ones 3(he Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism.4
3 (!o indicators should slide onto the Metonic and 'aros "ointers, and track in the engraved s"iral
on the back face. 'olid!orks had issues !ith a tangent relationshi" to a s"iral, so these are
su""ressed in the model but are still there5$.
? (he Antikythera Mechanism used a combination of adhesives, "ins, and friction fits as fasteners.
The model uses no fasteners, and would need a few if printed. All the gears that need to have
locked rotations are keyed and s"aced out !ith s"acers, but some of the keys are really small
loose pieces and should be changed.
% There are no tolerances built into this model.
9 (he Antikythera Mechanism used triangular teeth. (he model uses involute "rofiles. Solidworks
was having issues creating these profiles in a couple cases, and a few gears dont mesh
correctly.
> (he !ooden frame, "ointers, and "osts are creative inter"retations. (he large "ointers should be
removable in the real model to allo! the indicators to reset.
/ (he "lanet "ositions are not 6eroed to any celestial day.
Des"ite these differences, the form, function, and essence of the Antikythera Mechanism remain intact.
Also, some licensing info5
I am releasing this to the "ublic under a Creative Commons )., Attribution 'harealike 7icence. (hat
means you are free to use, edit, and redistribute these files so long as you a$ credit me for originally
making them, and b$ a""ly the same license !henever you redistribute it. (his means they !ill be forever
free. 8ith the follo!ing e/ce"tions5
# (he files 3"late back.sld"rt4 and 3a/le assembly a.sldasm4 are from the educational version of
'olid!orks and can only be used for educational "ur"oses. I dont kno! ho! that ha""ened,
because I have the commercial version of 'olid!orks. I must have edited something on my
schools com"uters.
2 (he files 3"late back lo!er dial v+."ng4 and 3"late back u""er dial v+."ng4 are taken from 1reeth
et al. 3Calendars !ith 9lym"iad and :cli"se ;rediction on the Antikythera Mechanism<
'u""lementary =otes4, and slightly edited by me. Co"yright belongs to original o!ners, ho!ever
because it is a "ublished "a"er all educational uses are fair use.
3 (he file 3"late front v>."ng4 is taken from this image, originally made by 2. :vans and A.
(horndike, and edited by me. Co"yright belongs to original o!ners. (hey might mind if you use it
educationally. I doubt it though.$
? (he file 3brass."ng4 I found on the Creative Commons, but cant remember e/actly !here.
Presenting: The Antikythera Mechanism
Antikythera Mechanism, CAD, engineering, projects
(he Antikythera Mechanism is the !orlds first kno!n mechanical com"uter, used by ancient %reeks to
"redict the "ath of "lanets in the sky, the dates of ecli"ses, lunar "hases, and several religious calendars.
It !as made sometime around ?,,BC, and it !as not until a thousand years later that anything rivaling its
com"le/ity !as found. Before its discovery !e had no idea the %reeks had technology any!here near
this so"histicated.
1or a CAD class this semester, I reconstructed the Antikythera Mechanism as a )D model in 'olid!orks.
Its to scale, and it !orks5 8atch the video to see it in action, and turn on annotations for a descri"tion.
Alternatively, do!nload the CAD files for yourself.
(he video goes "retty quickly, so Ill sho! some "ictures of the key features belo!.
(he front face is a "lanetary dis"lay. ;ointers track the "osition of the . "lanets kno!n to the %reeks, the
sun, and the moon, all as observed from :arth. (hese "ointers track along the inner ring, !hich dis"lays
the 6odiac the "osition of each ob#ect in the sky$. Because of the different s"eeds of these orbits, some
of the "lanets e/"erience a""arent retrograde motion, and ca"turing this e"icycle motion is the reason for
much of the com"le/ gearing system. (he front also dis"lays the date, !hich tracks along the ?>-months
outer ring. At the center of it all is a ball re"resenting the moon, "ainted black on one side and !hite on
the other. (his rotates to sho! the moons "hase on any given date @ black for a ne! moon and !hite for
a full moon, !ith everything in bet!een. &ou can see this in the video "retty clearly.
(he back face is a calendar dis"lay. (he to" half tracks the Metonic Cycle ?A years$ and the Cally"ic
Cycle BC years$, !hich form the basis of the %reek calendar. It also tracks the cycle of the 9lym"ic
%ames every + years$. (he bottom half tracks the 'aros Cycle >>) lunar months$, and the :/eligmos
Cycle CCA lunar months$, !hich can be used to "redict solar and lunar ecli"ses5 'cientific American has
a great infogra"hic on ho! to use the Antikythera Mechanism to "redict an ecli"se.

*o! does it all fit together insideD 8ell, during my
research I found that there !asnt a com"lete "icture
of ho! the gears !ere all related. (here !as a good
"icture for the bottom half, but the rest had to be
cobbled together from several different "laces. 'o to
hel" me visuali6e it !hile !orking on the "ro#ect, I
dre! u" a ma" of ho! everything fit together. And
because I had some free time yesterday, I cleaned it u" and "ut together this infogra"hic to make it all
clear its on !iki"edia no! so it doesnt get lost$. Its "retty self-e/"lanatory, and ho"efully it !ill be hel"ful
if anyone in the future !ants to make their o!n reconstruction.
Im "retty a!estruck, to be honest, that someone !as able to make this over >,,, years ago. :ven
though it !as built during the time of Eomes "eak ascendency, it is so many levels above any other
technology !e have from that day that it seems almost anachronistic. I had enough issues coming to
understand the com"le/ity and detail that is "acked into this small bo/, and I already kne! ho! it !as
going to !ork5 It makes you !onder !hat other marvels !ere created that have been lost to time.
This device is ust e!traordinary, the only thing of its kind. The design is beautiful, the astronomy is
e!actly right. The way the mechanics are designed ust makes your aw drop. "hoever has done this has
done it e!tremely carefully # in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as
being more valuable than the $ona %isa.&
- ;rofessor Michael :dmunds, as quoted in (he %uardian
Ill close off !ith a list of the "a"ers I used. (he first 1reeth "a"er !as by far the most hel"ful, and I might
have been able to make it based off of #ust that "a"er alone. (he others !ere hel"ful for conte/t and
com"arison though. And this youtube video, even though it !as for a different gearing schema than the
one I used, !as hel"ful in !ra""ing my head around ho! it !ould go together.
:vans, 2ames, et al. 3'olar Anomaly and ;lanetary Dis"lays in the Antikythera Mechanism.4 2ournal of the *istory of Astronomy C? >,?,$
1reeth, (ony, and Ale/ander 2ones. (he Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism. Institute for the 'tudy of the Ancient 8orld, >,?>.
1reet, (ony, et al. 3Calendars !ith 9lym"iad dis"lay and ecli"se "rediction on the Antikythera Mechanism.4 =ature +.+ >,,F$< C?+-C?B
1reeth, (ony, et al. 3Decoding the ancient %reek astronomical calculator kno!n as the Antikythera Mechanism.4 =ature +++ >,,C$< .FB-.A?.
8right, Michael (. 3(he Antikythera Mechanism< A ne! gearing scheme.4 Bull. 'ci. Instrum. 'oc F. >,,.$< >-B.