(November 30, 2014 at 12:51 pm)Chuck Wrote: The technology and knowledge embodied in the antikythera device is AFAIK hinted at in no other known Greco roman artifact, nor referred to in writing. This suggests at least the technology, and probably the knowledge, were never recognized even in its own time as being significant, nor became any part of the corpus of knowledge transmitted either amongst the educated classes, or amongst tradesmen.
So antikythera device might well be a one off thing, the little appreciated flash of inspiration of one forgotten genius, like the tank or flying machine of Leonardo Da Vinci. It does not represent an entire lost branch of socialized or utilized knowledge and technology 17 centuries ahead of its time.
When I spoke of lost knowledge and technology, I was not referring *specifically* to the AK mechanism, but rather to the large corpus of knowledge that was lost, only to be "discovered" by Europeans many centuries later. The AK mechanism is but one example.
