Δευτέρα 31 Δεκεμβρίου 2007
Παρασκευή 7 Δεκεμβρίου 2007
The Archimedes Codex!
A synopsis of the book by Reviel Netz and William Noel
On 29 October 1998 the front page of the New York Times reported that an extremely ugly, unprepossessing book had just been sold at Christies New York for $2,000,000. It appeared to be the battered prayer book of a medieval priest, charred by fire, doused with water, and devoured by mould. Yet underneath the prayers, barely visible below the stains and the soot, lay hidden the oldest surviving manuscript of the ancient world's greatest mathematician, Archimedes of Syracuse.
On 29 October 1998 the front page of the New York Times reported that an extremely ugly, unprepossessing book had just been sold at Christies New York for $2,000,000. It appeared to be the battered prayer book of a medieval priest, charred by fire, doused with water, and devoured by mould. Yet underneath the prayers, barely visible below the stains and the soot, lay hidden the oldest surviving manuscript of the ancient world's greatest mathematician, Archimedes of Syracuse.
This is the true story of the greatest scientific codex extant today: the Archimedes Palimpset. Over a thousand years old, this codex survived against all odds. It travelled through crusades and world wars, from east to west and overseas. But only now - thanks to ultra-modern imaging techniques - are its hidden contents finally being brought to light with surprising results that will fundamentally change our understanding of the history of science.
Part detective work and part adventure, part romance and part science, this story is like no other. William Noel and Reviel Netz, who have been studying the book since its discovery in 1998, tell the tale, alternating between the history of the book and the history-changing science revealed in its pages.
Τρίτη 13 Νοεμβρίου 2007
Τετάρτη 7 Νοεμβρίου 2007
Σάββατο 3 Νοεμβρίου 2007
Εγγραφή σε:
Αναρτήσεις (Atom)