The Antikythera Mechanism was essentially a collection of gears kept in a wooden frame box. Protecting the gears were two flat bronze panels, and three large dial faces were connected to the gears through the panels. The hand-operated gears turned a large dial in the front, and, simultaneously, two large dials in the back. A bronze cover protected the front and back dials, and the whole thing made up a box about the size of a large dictionary.
Each of the covers, panels and dials was inscribed with information. It is that information that the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project (AMRP) has been attempting to discern. Earlier studies, beginning with Derek de Solla Price, led scholars to believe that the Antikythera Mechanism was associated with star charts; Michael T. Wright was convinced that the mechanism predicted solar and lunar eclipses. But the letters on the dials and panels were illegible to the naked eye, and so these interpretations could only be based on the numbers of gear teeth and overall appearance of the gears. The AMRP hoped that using high resolution three dimensional x-rays, they could read the legends on the panels and dials and resolve some of the debate.
Sources
Antikythera Mechanism Research Project
Freeth, T., et al. 2006 Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism. Nature 444:587-591.
Freeth, Tony, Alexander Jones, John M. Steele, and Yanis Bitsakis 2008 Calendars with Olympiad display and eclipse prediction on the Antikythera Mechanism. Nature 454:614-617.
