The Archimedes Palimpsest: Volume1, Catalogue and Commentary

The Archimedes Palimpsest is the name given to a Byzantine prayer-book which was written over a number of earlier manuscripts, including three unique examples containing works by Archimedes, unquestionably the greatest mathematician of antiquity. Sold at auction in 1998, it has since been the subject of a privately funded project to conserve, image and transcribe its texts. In this volume the scientists, conservators, classicists and historians involved in the project discuss in full their techniques and their discoveries. These include new speeches by the classical Athenian orator Hyperides, a lost commentary on Aristotle's Categories from the second or third century AD and substantial re-readings and reinterpretations of the works by Archimedes. The book discusses the pioneering imaging and post-processing techniques used to reveal the texts and includes detailed codicological descriptions of all eight manuscripts comprising the Palimpsest. It will be of interest to manuscript scholars, classicists and historians of science.

Author: Reviel Netz
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 11/24/2011
Pages: 350
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 5.50lbs
Size: 13.60h x 9.70w x 1.60d
ISBN: 9781107014572

About the Author
Netz, Reviel: - Reviel Netz is Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy, by courtesy, at Stanford University. His books, most published by Cambridge University Press, include The Shaping of Deduction in Greek Mathematics: A Study in Cognitive History (1999, Runciman Award), The Transformation of Early Mediterranean Mathematics: From Problems to Equations (2004) and Ludic Proof: Greek Mathematics and the Alexandrian Aesthetic (2009). He is also engaged in a translation of and commentary on the complete works of Archimedes, the first volume of which, The Two Books on Sphere and Cylinder, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2004. His popular book on the Archimedes Palimpsest Project, The Archimedes Codex (co-authored with William Noel, Neumann Prize), was published in 2007 and has been translated into twenty languages.Noel, William: - William Noel is Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore and Director of the Archimedes Palimpsest Project. His popular book, The Archimedes Codex (co-authored with Reviel Netz, Neumann Prize), was published in 2007 and has been translated into twenty languages. He is a member of the Faculty of Rare Book School at the University of Virginia and is Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Dr Noel received his doctorate from Cambridge University in 1993 and has published widely on European manuscript illumination in the period 800 to 1300 and on the Archimedes Palimpsest.Wilson, Nigel: - Nigel Wilson is a Fellow of the British Academy and Fellow and Tutor (Emeritus) at Lincoln College, Oxford. He has had long experience of research on Greek manuscripts and editing texts. His works include Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature (with L. D. Reynolds, 3rd edition 1991) and Scholars of Byzantium (revised edition 1996).
Et al...