The Archimedes Codex: How a Medieval Prayer Book Is Revealing the True Genius of Antiquity's Greatest Scientist | 
| Authors: Reviel Netz, William Noel
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.50
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 18550
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st Da Capo Press Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 030681580X
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9780306815805
ASIN: 030681580X
Publication Date: October 22, 2007
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Product Description
At a Christie’s auction in October 1998, a battered medieval manuscript sold for two million dollars to an anonymous bidder, who then turned it over to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore for further study. The manuscript was a palimpsest-a book made from an earlier codex whose script had been scraped off and the pages used again. Behind the script of the thirteenth-century monk’s prayer book, the palimpsest revealed the faint writing of a much older, tenth-century manuscript. Part archaeological detective story, part science, and part history, The Archimedes Codex tells the extraordinary story of this lost manuscript, from its tenth-century creation in Constantinople to the auction block at Christie’s, and how a team of scholars used the latest imaging technology to reveal and decipher the original text. What they found was the earliest surviving manuscript by Archimedes (287 b.c.-212 b.c.), the greatest mathematician of antiquity-a manuscript that revealed, for the first time, the full range of his mathematical genius, which was two thousand years ahead of modern science.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Excellent April 29, 2008
I just read this book and I have to say it's an extraordinary little book. Both the history of the palimpsest itself and the mathematical proofs, are very engaging. The book makes for an easy reading and reveals the magnitude of the genius of Archimedes, of whom, other than the silly figure of a naked man jumping out of a bath shouting "eureka", little is really known by most people, myself included. The proof from Method, that a parabolic segment is four-thirds the triangle it encloses is particularly astonishing.
 Tough Going March 27, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found parts of this book extremely interesting, but I skipped many chapters and sections. I think you would have to be a math fan to follow all the explanations of Archimedes' mathematical theories. Likewise difficult to follow were all the technical explanations of how the imaging of the ancient book was accomplished.
The Archimedes Codex works on multiple levels February 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Archimedes Codex is a three-in-one book: First, it tells the fascinating story of how a famous but apparently lost text of Archimedes was found in the late 20th century and is being gradually recovered in a readable form. Second, it reveals some of the functioning of one the most brilliant mathematical and engineering brains in history. And finally, it indicates, in the same vein as the recently re-examined Antikythera machine, the enormity of the quantity of important information from antiquity that has been lost, especially in the fields of science, engineering and mathematics. This book, clearly written and well-illustrated, would be a good choice for anyone who is interested in either classical scholarship, the history of mathematics, or historical mysteries and their solutions.
 Ancient math for the math non-lovers February 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Archimedes was one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, but many of his writings have long been lost to us. We've had some medieval translations of a few of his works, but nothing original. That is, until now. In 1998, a unique book went up for auction in New York: a 13th century prayer book, handwritten by some monk back in the day. But beneath the words that this monk copied were the words of Archimedes in their original Greek. The Archimedes Codex, by Reviel Netz and William Noel, tells the story of the purchase of this codex, and the nine year (and still ongoing) attempt to get as much of Archimedes original text from this document as possible. It's a fascinating work, alternating between the history of the codex and revealing what the codex says, and thus it's of alternating interest to the reader.
It's an interesting way to write a book, and since Math is not my area of interest, I found Noel's history a lot more interesting than Netz's math. However, Netz's enthusiasm about the entire project is quite infectious. He talks about Archimedes theories, how the study of mathematics changed from ancient times to more modern times, especially in light of what the Codex has revealed. One interesting thing Netz discusses is that the ancients did not use infinity as a mathematical object, but then he shows how Archimedes seems to approach the concept even though he never names it. The math is relatively easy to follow, though I did skim a large part of it. Netz provides plenty of diagrams as demonstration. Yes, mathematical writing can get dry at times, but Netz's enthusiasm for the project shines through in his prose, making these chapters a lot easier to read.
For me, though, the main area of interest in The Archimedes Codex is Noel's history. He does extensive investigations and theorizing into how the Codex came into being in Constantinople in the 6th century, what the monk who copied the book may have been thinking, and how the overwriting of ancient manuscripts generally occurred.
Along with the history, Noel provides a detailed account of the process put in place to reveal the hidden secrets of the Codex. This is impressive in itself, with numerous people putting in a lot of time and effort into imaging the text, coming up with ideas to make the text clearer and easier to read. We see the setbacks and disappointments, the points where Noel thought they wouldn't be able to go forward. Noel's passion for the Codex comes through almost as much as Netz's does, but Noel delves more into the problems that he has had to deal with.
The contributions of both authors make The Archimedes Codex what it is. While the math part can get a little slow at times, overall the topic is a fascinating one and both Netz and Noel are able to entice the reader to follow along with them on this unknown trail (whether mathematical or historical). Netz is almost giddy at times as something is revealed in the Codex.
This book is a definite must for any math fans out there, but it's also good for those with a more historical bent. You can get past the math with relative ease, and enjoy a historical search for the roots of book written over a thousand years ago. Whichever way you go, you can't go wrong with The Archimedes Codex.
David Roy
A splendid story, splendidly told January 27, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Reviel Netz and William Noel have given us a well written, immensely informative and hugely entertaining glimpse into the world of Archimedes, mathematical thinking, antiquarian book collecting, manuscript conservation and, above all, puzzle solving. Puzzle solving that is dependent on the mind-boggling expertise of linguists, classicists, mathematicians, chemists, computer scientists and imaging experts.
Mr. B, the anonymous but known purchaser of what remains of Codex C and the underwriter of the conservation and interpretative work, clearly needs to be recognized for his huge and essential financial contribution.
Does anyone know who Mr. B is?
The alternating chapters on the history and restoration of the manuscript and its mathematical content works wonderfully. Reviel Netz does a great job explaining the geometry and the significance of Archimedes' thought experiments.
The one minor issue I have is the tendency for overstatement. Netz may well be right that nobody before Archimedes (and even Newton) had the same type of thoughts - but the reality is that given the destruction of so many early manuscripts, we simply do not know. I also am less sure than Prof. Netz that Archimedes, the builder of catapaults and other engineering devices and an astronomer, didn't use the physical world to ground his mathematical ideas - thereby accounting for some of his brilliant mathematical ideas. For example, it is not hard to imagine that Archimedes might have been using his geometry to create a heliocentric model - why else the deep interest in parabolas? But then Prof. Netz like all good educators has motivated me to find other expositions of Archimedes and his science.
Regardless, this is a wonderful book, profusely illustrated with both color photographs and diagrams. The authors are also very gracious in acknowledging the work of literally dozens of experts. It will undoubtely inspire a host of fiction writers.
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