Ruth Francis, Nature’s Head of Press, is reviewing all the entries shortlisted for the Royal Society’s science book prize. She’ll be reading one per week and we are posting her thoughts on The Great Beyond every Friday between now and the prize ceremony on 15 September.
Decoding the Heavens – Solving the mystery of the world’s first computer by Jo Marchant
A lump of corroded bronze cogs discovered at the bottom of the sea in 1901 has cast a spell over scientists for more than a hundred years. Turning the pages of ‘Decoding the Heavens’ it becomes clear to the reader that that Marchant has joined their ranks.
She joins an awe inspiring list of names obsessed by what is now known as the Antikythera mechanism, currently believed to be an early computer used to predict of eclipses, lunar and solar cycles and a tool to track pan-Hellenic cultural events.
Jacques Cousteau surveyed the wreck on which it was found and Arthur C Clark was fascinated by the device, encouraging others to believe that they could achieve fame by figuring out what it did and how. At the other end of the spectrum, amateur clockwork fanatics attempted to make their names by unpicking the puzzle of gears in the device.
All these lives are covered as Marchant’s book, which begins with the discovery of an unimpressive lump of bronze inside a wreck laden with statues. From here it sweeps onwards through attempted dating and better and better imaging, rigorous counting of cogs and arguments as to how the mechanism actually worked, with the research baton sometimes handed on, sometimes stolen and sometimes prised from the grasp of the previous holder.
Although the scientific research is clearly depicted and simple to follow, it is easy for the reader to feel lost when trying to retain the details of the mechanism. Marchant’s precision is incredible but the book could have done with images, or even pop ups of each section, to help firm this up.
In reference to the handover to the current team who are using amazing modern imaging technology to decipher the encryptions that are no longer visible to the naked eye, Marchant says: “The Antikythera bug had infected its next victim.”
Likewise, her book passes on this infection to the reader.
Disclaimer: As Nature’s Head of Press I have promoted some of the later Antikythera research, and know the author of the book as she was previously Nature’s news editor.
Previously on Ruth’s Reviews