Prof. Xenophon D. Moussas
Professor Xenophon D. Moussas is Professor of Space Physics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and one of the world’s leading researchers of the Antikythera Mechanism, the oldest known scientific computer. He earned his BSc in Physics (1971) and PhD in Nuclear Physics (Cosmic Rays and Space Exploration, 1977) from the University of Athens, where he founded the discipline of Space Physics.
His research spans space physics, cosmic rays, heliophysics, and the history of ancient Greek science. He has participated in NASA and ESA space missions and has served as Senior Visiting Research Fellow at Imperial College London for two decades. He has also held visiting appointments at the Paris Observatory, the Max Planck Institute (Germany), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, while supervising dozens of doctoral dissertations in Greece and abroad.
He has published more than 100 scientific articles in scientific journals and more than 200 on conferences and authored books on Space Physics and the Antikythera Mechanism. His books about the Antikythera Mechanism have appeared in eight languages, with additional international editions in preparation. Together with Manolis Tsikritsis, he identified the Minoan stepped cylindrical monument at Papoura, Crete, as an astronomical observatory and agricultural calendar dating to about 2000 BC.
He has delivered approximately 2,000 invited lectures worldwide and has organized or contributed to nearly 100 international exhibitions on the Antikythera Mechanism, ancient Greek science, astronomy, and philosophy. These exhibitions have been presented in 15 languages at major institutions, including NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, UNESCO Headquarters, the Library of Alexandria, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, the Gustavianum Museum (Uppsala), Universum Museum (Mexico), UNISON, and numerous universities, museums, schools, and academia across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Australia and Asia.
Together with a Mexican team they created a huge working model of the Antikythera Mechanism-Planetarium and Astronomical clock at the University of Sonora, Mexico.
His work bridges ancient Greek philosophy, astronomy, and technology with philosophy highlighting the enduring legacy of Greek scientific thought. In parallel modern space science continues to be his passion.