1000's year old Earthquake detector, better than today?

What's up everybody.

One interesting thing I have come across throughout the years is how peices of technology seem to surface that are hundreds if not thousands of years old, but seem to be better or equal to what we have today.

One item I came across was a seismoscope invented in 132 AD by a Chinese inventor called Zhang (‘Chang’) Heng. A seismoscope or seismograph today is a tool used for detection of earthquakes. The device was remarkably accurate in detecting earthquakes from afar, and did not rely on shaking or movement in the location where the device was situated.

While historical records are blurry on ancient Chinese beliefs regarding earthquakes. some say they were seen as important signs from the heavens or imbalance in the Yin/Yang of the universe. it was important for the higher ruling families to know when these events were going to happen.

Zhang Heng the inventor of said seismoscope, was an astronomer, mathematician, engineer, geographer and inventor, who lived during the Han Dynasty (25 – 220 AD).  He was renowned for inventing the world’s first water-powered armillary sphere for astronomical observation, improved the water clock, and documented about 2,500 stars in a detailed star catalogue. He is also widely believed to have invented the first odometer. 

I personally find these reports to be incredible, Men of renown thousands of years ago who were capable of doing these things with little to no technology. it begs the question. Have we really evolved? or are we in a dark ages of sort. Of course we have inventions, and the world changing internet now, but honestly, it is worth a thought.

To me at least the operation of Zhang's seismoscope seems much more advanced then just a shaking bowl of water that some would expect of the time frame. its Specs are as follows.

Zhang's seismoscope was a giant bronze vessel, resembling a samovar almost 6 feet in diameter. Eight dragons snaked face-down along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragon's mouth was a small bronze ball. Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls.  His device also included a vertical pin passing through a slot in the crank, a catch device, a pivot on a projection, a sling suspending the pendulum, an attachment for the sling, and a horizontal bar supporting the pendulum.

The exact mechanism that caused a ball to drop in the event of an earthquake is still unknown. One theory is that a thin stick was set loosely down the center of the barrel. An earthquake would cause the stick to topple over in the direction of the seismic shock, triggering one of the dragons to open its mouth and release the bronze ball. The sound of the ball striking one of the eight toads would alert observers to the earthquake and would give a rough indication of the earthquake's direction of origin.

this to me is again really fascinating. I feel like there may be simpler ways to figure these things out. Things like this item, the Baghdad battery, and the Antikythera mechanism are all incredible and show us that we really know very little about what our ancestors were truly capable of. To create things like this from little more than base minerals and materials is a wild thing to do. Give most people today the items needed to build a Baghdad battery and they would have no idea what to do.

I mean the, Antikythera mechanism is thought to have been a computer of sorts that predicts astronomical events and days in ancient Greece. Truly fascinating stuff, our History holds almost as many mysteries as our future at this point.

As always, thanks for reading and stopping by.