Archimedes of Syracuse, "The Archimedes Codex"

Saw a show last night on Book CSpan2, http://www.booktv.org/  about  "The Archimedes Codex"  and had to see how much was available to share with you. So this is a POST about  Archimedes of Syracuse, the Project and Book "The Archimedes Codex" 

Archimedes of Syracuse (Ancient Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης) (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics and the explanation of the principle of the lever. He is credited with designing innovative machines, including siege engines and the screw pump that bears his name.

Archimedes is considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time.He used the method of exhaustion to calculate the area under the arc of a parabola with the summation of an infinite series, and gave a remarkably accurate approximation of pi.He also defined the spiral bearing his name, formulas for the volumes of surfaces of revolution and an ingenious system for expressing very large numbers.

Archimedes died during the Siege of Syracuse when he was killed by a Roman soldier despite orders that he should not be harmed. Cicero describes visiting the tomb of Archimedes, which was surmounted by a sphere inscribed within a cylinder modelled in stone on top of the grave. Archimedes had proved that the sphere has two thirds of the volume and area of the cylinder (including the flat ends of the latter), and regarded this as the greatest of his mathematical achievements.

The relatively few copies of Archimedes' written work that survived through the Middle Ages were an influential source of ideas for scientists during the Renaissance, while the discovery in 1906 of previously unknown works by Archimedes in the Archimedes Palimpsest has provided new insights into how he obtained mathematical results. Modern experiments have tested claims that Archimedes designed machines capable of lifting attacking ships out of the water, and setting ships on fire using an array of mirrors

MUST see more about him>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=9038&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=No  Book CSPAN2

William Noel, Co-author, "The Archimedes Codex" 

The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_Palimpsest#Mathematical_content

Archimedes Palimpsest is a palimpsest on parchment in the form of a codex which originally was a copy of an otherwise unknown work of the ancient mathematician, physicist, and engineer Archimedes of Syracuse and other authors. Archimedes lived in the third century BC, but the copy was made in the 10th century by an anonymous scribe. In the 12th century the codex was unbound and washed, in order that the parchment leaves could be folded in half and reused for a Christian liturgical text. It was a book of nearly 90 pages before being made a palimpsest of 177 pages; the older leaves folded so that each became two leaves of the liturgical book. The erasure was incomplete, and Archimedes' work is now readable using digital processing of ultraviolet, X-ray, and visible light.[1]

  In 1906 it was briefly inspected in Constantinople and was published, from photographs, by the Danish philologist Johan Ludvig Heiberg; shortly thereafter Archimedes' Greek text was translated into English by Thomas Heath. Before that it was not widely known among mathematicians, physicists, or historians. It contains

• "Equilibrium of Planes"
• "Spiral Lines"
• "The Measurement of the Circle"
• "Sphere and Cylinder"
• "On Floating Bodies" (only known copy in Greek)
• "The Method of Mechanical Theorems" (only known copy)
• "Stomachion" (only known copy)

The palimpsest also contains speeches by the 4th century BC politician Hypereides, and a commentary on Aristotle's Categories by Alexander of Aphrodisias.

In Heiberg's time, much attention was paid to Archimedes' brilliant use of infinitesimals to solve problems about areas, volumes, and centers of gravity. Less attention was given to the Stomachion, a problem treated in the Palimpsest that appears to deal with a children's puzzle. Reviel Netz of Stanford University has argued that Archimedes discussed the number of ways to solve the puzzle. Modern combinatorics leads to the result that this number is 17,152. Due to the fragmentary state of the palimpsest it is unknown whether or not Archimedes came to the same result. This may have been the most sophisticated work in the field of combinatorics in Greek antiquity.

References

• Reviel Netz and William Noel, The Archimedes Codex, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007[6]

• Dijksterhuis, E.J.,"Archimedes", Princeton U. Press, 1987, pages 129- 133. copyright 1938, ISBN 0-691-08421, 0-691-02400-6

 External links

• The Archimedes Palimpsest Project Web Page
• The Archimedes Palimpsest web pages at the Walters Art Museum
• The Nova Program outlined
• The Nova Program teacher's version
• Did Isaac Barrow read it?
• May 2005 Stanford Report: Heather Rock Woods, "Archimedes manuscript yields secrets under X-ray gaze" May 19, 2005
• The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem v. Christies’s Inc., 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13257 (S.D. N.Y. 1999)

This website http://www.archimedespalimpsest.org/ attempts to give information on the Palimpsest, and on the progress of the project in general. It is designed to be of interest to a wide range of audiences, and many people have contributed to it. I do hope that you find answers to some of the questions you may have concerning the manuscript and the progress of the project on this site. A

William Noel
Curator of Manuscripts
The Walters Art Museum

This section of the website is designed to give scholars quick access to images that they need for their research purposes. No explanations for these images are given. The images can be downloaded, but users should be warned that some of the files are large. All images are copyright of the owner of the Archimedes Palimpsest. They cannot be reproduced without permission. You can apply for permission by writing to wnoel@thewalters.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With X-Ray Florescence Imaging, New Ability to Read Previously Unknown Mathematical Treatises in Archimedes Palimpsest
5/24/2005

http://www.thewalters.org/news_art_museum/pressdetail.aspx?e_id=3

publication of the results as well as an exhibition of the Archimedes Palimpsest are being planned for 2008 at the Walters. The Archimedes Palimpsest Web site is www.archimedespalimpsest.org and will be updated by Aug. 1, 2005, so that the public can follow the progress that has been made to date.

The Archimedes Palimpsest contains seven of the Greek mathematician's treatises. Most importantly, it is the only surviving copy of On Floating Bodies in the original Greek, and the unique source for the Method of Mechanical Theorems and Stomachion. The manuscript was written in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) in the 10th century. In the 13th century, the manuscript was taken apart, and the Archimedes text was scraped off. The parchment was reused by a monk who created a prayer book. This process is called palimpsesting. The Archimedes manuscript then effectively disappeared. In 1906, the undertext was recognized by J. L. Heiberg, professor of classics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, as containing previously unknown works by Archimedes.

Since 1999, intense efforts have been made to retrieve the Archimedes text. Many techniques have been employed. Multispectral imaging, undertaken by researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, has been successful in retrieving about 80% of the text. More recently the project has focused on experimental techniques to retrieve the remaining 20%. One of the most successful of these techniques has proved to be x-ray florescence imaging (XRF). In April 2005, at the EDAX company in New Jersey, XRF was able to reveal the iron in the ink of folio 81r of the Archimedes Palimpsest. This was the first image that allowed scholars to read Archimedes' text underneath a 20th-century forged icon. This month, using one of the most powerful sources of focused electro-magnetic radiation in the world, the Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, which is part of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California, used a synchrotron x-ray beam to continuously scan the parchment of folio 81r. This has enabled scholars to read large sections of previously hidden text.

The present effort to more fully recover the Archimedes texts is wholly funded by the anonymous owner of the book. The manuscript is conserved by Abigail Quandt of the Walters Art Museum. The project manager is Michael B. Toth of R.B. Toth Associates and the project director is William Noel of the Walters Art Museum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~