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Wonder if there are common origins of Antikhytera and Sanskrit word for cosmos, Antariksha.
by noisy_boy 6y ago
Wonder if there are common origins of Antikhytera and Sanskrit word for cosmos, Antariksha.
- rexreed 6y agoThere is no connection. Antikyhtera is the name of the Greek island near where the device was found. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera
- maxerickson 6y agoThe mechanism is named after an island near to where it was found. It was found in a wrecked roman ship, the island name is contemporary Greek. So it would be a coincidence, likely without much meaning.
- exDM69 6y agoAntikythera is the name of the location where the archeological discovery of the mechanism was made. Its origins are unknown. Thus the mechanism has no relation to the sanskrit word.
- johnnujler 6y agoNot sure if it would be wise to dismiss the possibility so easily. We clearly do not know all the causal elements involved, plus I wouldn't be surprised if the name of the island itself had something to do with "antariksha".
- exDM69 6y agoIf there is a connection, it is coincidental and unrelated to the mechanism which was made elsewhere, and sank in a storm en route to somewhere else. Antikythera is a small barren island in the mediterranean.
- chatzi 6y agoAntikithira is a composite word: Anti (a prefix meaning opposite) + Kithira (a nearby island). So maybe it is the other way round, "antariksha" is named after the island ?
- johnnujler 6y agoNever said it was named after antariksha. Merely pointed out the possibility of a connection. Are we considering word formation and origin retracing a settled matter? Also just realised that I am replying to a sock puppet account. Thanks anyway.
- chatzi 6y agohuh? what makes you think I am a sock puppet ?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jcrubino 6y agoGreat tip. Archimedes in the Sand Reckoner cites to be solving on a problem from the "Eastern Philosophers". The problem is also in the Vajra Sutra where the numbers of sands in the cosmos is contemplated. Archimedes Father was an astronomer. Great parallel lives material that never maid it into the original. The Antikytheron is written in a Corinthian dialect, from where Archimdes father is said to have come from. My musing consiracy theory for the Roman sacking of Syracuse was for the Antikythera from which harvest and thus taxes could be better calculated - i.e. Thales. But the Romans killed the only guy who understood how the Antikythera worked.... so it became a generals paper weight.
- InfiniteRand 6y agoThe wikipedia article suggests doubt on the Archimedes connection - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism In particular when it says "it was demonstrated in 2017 that the calendar on the Metonic Spiral is indeed of the Corinthian type but cannot be that of Syracuse," although as evidence goes that doesn't sound definitive. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that Archimedes was part of an active intellectual community and is reported to have written a (now lost) manuscript on the construction of planetarium-style models ("On Sphere-Making"), so whether or not the artifact is directly from Archimedes there might be an intellectual link.
- jcrubino 6y agoThus my "musing conspiracy".... Thanks for posting the link. Much of my commentary comes from past research on Archimedes... so I am biased and amused. If I recall the founding of Syracuse is by Spartans and Corinthians... Archimedes society cared enough about knowledge that he was sent to Alexandria to study. Syracuse was a melting pot of cultures from the start and the Phonecians and the roman conflicts reinforced that to the end.