# Most sophisticated machines of the age **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412 "2017-12-27T19:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/1 "2017-12-27T19:54:46Z")
The term “sophisticated” may leave itself open to some interpretation but I would submit the [Large Hadron Collider](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider) as my nomination for the most sophisticated machine in 2017. Certain other machines (e.g. supercomputers) may have more complicated mechanisms but I would argue that the combination machine’s intricacy and the underlying knowledge necessary for its’ function places it in the top spot. What would be the most sophisticated machines in 1917? Or 1817? or 1417?.. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/2 "2017-12-27T20:04:42Z")
In 1417 it was probably a clock. Preceding that it may have been the [Antikythera mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) for a long time. By 1817 the Watt Steam Engine was in use and steam locomotives were being developed, and Stocking Frame textile machines had been around for a while. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/3 "2017-12-27T20:10:42Z")
1917, maybe one of the Revenge class battleships? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/4 "2017-12-27T20:34:01Z")
There was a lot of new technology available in the early 20th century. Huge battleships as mentioned above covered one aspect of technological sophistication. Electrical devices and early electronics were also in existence, simpler machines in terms of the number of parts but more sophisticated than simple mechanical devices. Internal combustion engines were rapidly developing and in use in automobiles, watercraft, and aircraft. The first Xray tubes were also being made by 1917. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/5 "2017-12-27T21:08:18Z")
Battleships would likely be the largest machines found in the early 20th century, and certainly highly complex by era standards. Speaking of battleships, I read somewhere that ships of the line during the Napoleonic wars could be considered the most complex machines of that age. You don’t normally think of a wind-powered vessel as being a machine, but machines they are and required a great deal of highly specialized knowledge and expertise to design, manufacture, and operate them. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/6 "2017-12-28T01:42:33Z")
Back in Archimedes’s day, I recall reading, he got pretty excited about inventing the lever. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/7 "2017-12-28T02:15:52Z")
In 2017? The automobile. it’s an incredibly complex and sophisticated machine which runs on (relatively) dirty fuel yet emits practically nothing. and will do so with such minimal fuss that we’ll call one of them with a wonky infotainment touchscreen a “low quality piece of junk.” yet we’ll happily put anyone with a pulse and pubes in control of one. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/8 "2017-12-28T02:43:31Z")
It’s the bottle opener that Dos Equis guy uses. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/9 "2017-12-28T04:58:37Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > In 2017? The automobile. > > it’s an incredibly complex and sophisticated machine which runs on (relatively) dirty fuel yet emits practically nothing. and will do so with such minimal fuss that we’ll call one of them with a wonky infotainment touchscreen a “low quality piece of junk.” yet we’ll happily put anyone with a pulse and pubes in control of one. It also is capable now of recording every place you go, how long you stay there, your driving habits, and how many people were with you. Fun! ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/10 "2017-12-28T05:02:16Z")
I read somewhere a long time ago the Saturn V moon rockets were the most complicated machines man has ever created. Always wondered what the criteria for that was. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/11 "2017-12-28T13:21:53Z")
Modern Nuke Sub has to be close to the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/12 "2017-12-28T15:53:08Z")
I suggest that the telephone network comes somewhere on the list, but that will depend upon which era, maybe around the 1960-70s. After that you get a communication system that carries out the same functions, but a whole lot else besides. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/13 "2017-12-28T19:56:38Z")
> [@Lizard](#): > > I read somewhere a long time ago the Saturn V moon rockets were the most complicated machines man has ever created. Always wondered what the criteria for that was. That may have been true at the time, although I always though of the Saturn V as being a challenge of scale rather than complexity. Or if you include the Saturn V with the Command and Landing Modules for the lunar missions, those were incredible feats of sophistication for their time. I would say the Saturn V was surpassed by the Space Shuttle orbiters. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/14 "2017-12-28T20:11:01Z")
The International Space Station is near the top of the list at the moment, I would venture. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/15 "2017-12-28T22:35:10Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > In 1417 it was probably a clock. Preceding that it may have been the [Antikythera mechanism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) for a long time. > > By 1817 the Watt Steam Engine was in use and steam locomotives were being developed, and Stocking Frame textile machines had been around for a while. it’s not a clock, it’s a computer. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/16 "2017-12-28T23:10:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > it’s not a clock, it’s a computer. If you mean the Antikythera mechanism then yes, it’s called an ‘analog computer’, a rather dated term because it’s not comparable to a modern digital computer. In this case it actually was a clock, not one that counted off minutes and hours, but one which counted off astronomical events. In any event, it’s highly unlikely the device was operational in the year 1417, and it was no more complex than a good clock. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/17 "2017-12-29T00:29:54Z")
I think Radio was at one time the only machine that employed a technology that was beyond the intuitive understanding of most of its users, , and still was by 1917. I can explain to most people’s comprehension how the internal combustion engine works, but not radio. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/18 "2017-12-29T01:35:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you mean the Antikythera mechanism then yes, it’s called an ‘analog computer’, a rather dated term because it’s not comparable to a modern digital computer. In this case it actually was a clock, not one that counted off minutes and hours, but one which counted off astronomical events. In any event, it’s highly unlikely the device was operational in the year 1417, and it was no more complex than a good clock. I woudn’t say it counted off astronomical events, it calculated them. And it was WAAAAAAAY more complex than a good clock. It’s not the clock-like gearing that makes it complex. It’s the mechanical solutions used to compensate for fractional problems. [here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5_29GTY-ls) a link to a PBS Nova show on it. Not exactly a scientific fact but [here’s a quote](http://mentalfloss.com/article/81445/15-intriguing-facts-about-antikythera-mechanism) by someone else on it’s complexity. IT WAS SO TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, NOTHING SURPASSED IT FOR CLOSE TO 1500 YEARS. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/19 "2017-12-29T02:05:14Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I woudn’t say it counted off astronomical events, it calculated them. And it was WAAAAAAAY more complex than a good clock. It’s not the clock-like gearing that makes it complex. It’s the mechanical solutions used to compensate for fractional problems. > > [here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5_29GTY-ls) a link to a PBS Nova show on it. > > Not exactly a scientific fact but [here’s a quote](http://mentalfloss.com/article/81445/15-intriguing-facts-about-antikythera-mechanism) by someone else on it’s complexity. IT WAS SO TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED, NOTHING SURPASSED IT FOR CLOSE TO 1500 YEARS. I have seen that episode in the past but don’t remember the details. I’ll review it again, I may have forgotten something more complex. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412/20 "2017-12-29T02:20:56Z")
D-wave computer? I know it isn’t a true quantum computer, but I’d wonder if a quantum computer is the most complex machine that currently exists. There are true quantum computers out there, but I think they are limited to 20 qubits right now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-sophisticated-machines-of-the-age/805412.md?page=2)