Join leading international scholars for an extraordinary interdisciplinary journey uncovering the roots of mathematical astronomy, maritime technology, and scientific thought. Hosted by the University of Connecticut, this two-day conference bridges the humanities and sciences to explore how the ancient world transformed systematic observations of the sky and sea into revolutionary mechanical realization.

The Antikythera Mechanism, recovered from a shipwreck in the Aegean Sea, represents one of the most remarkable technological achievements of the ancient world. Its sophisticated system of bronze gears encoded astronomical cycles and phenomena, demonstrating an extraordinary synthesis of mathematics, observation, mechanical technology and astronomical theory.

At the centre of the conference will be the relationship between the Antikythera Mechanism and the astronomical tradition associated with Hipparchus of Rhodes, whose work represents a decisive stage in the mathematical description of the heavens. Particular attention will be given to the transmission of astronomical knowledge, the development of predictive models, ancient observational instruments, calendars and cycles, and the technological environment in which such achievements became possible.

The conference will also place the Mechanism within its broader geographical and intellectual setting: the Aegean Sea and the ancient Mediterranean world. 

The sea was not merely the environment in which the Mechanism was lost; it was a fundamental medium for the circulation of people, ideas, technologies, astronomical knowledge and scientific instruments.

Dates: September 17–18, 2026

Time: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST daily

Location: IPB Room 317, 159 Discovery Drive, Storrs, CT

Organized by: Paideia Center