In 1900 a group of sponge divers blown off course in the Mediterranean discovered an ancient Greek shipwreck dating from around 70 B.C. Among the objects they hauled up was what appeared to be a formless lump of corroded rock. It turned out to be the most stunning scientific artifact we have from antiquity." "For more than a century this "Antikythera mechanism" has puzzled academics. It was ancient clockwork, unmatched in complexity for one thousand years - but who could have made it, and what was it for? Now, more than 2,000 years after the device was lost at sea, scientists have pieced together its intricate workings and revealed its secrets. It is a remarkably sophisticated mechanism consisting of dials, pointers, and at least thirty interlocking gear wheels." In Decoding the Heavens, Jo Marchant tells the full story of the century-long quest to understand this ancient computer. Along the way she encounters a diverse cast of characters - ranging from Archimedes to Jacques Cousteau - and explores the deep roots of modern technology not only in ancient Greece but in the Islamic world and medieval Europe too.