Ancient math for the math non-lovers
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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
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The extraordinary story of the exploration of one of the most important books of all time
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The Archimedes Codex is the story of one of the few remaining documents containing the work of the Sicilian thinker Archimedes. It is the story of the book itself and its convoluted history. Without giving much away, the codex is a palimpsest. This is a book on parchment that has had the original writing scraped off and the material refolded and written on again with new text, in this case a mediaeval prayerbook. It explains how conservation work is done and then explores the very latest in imaging technology. But most important of all it explores Archimedes' ideas and physics and mathematics. This book should be read by anyone who wants to know about the history of thought, mathematics or physics, who is interested in modern imaging techniques, who studies ancient thinkers or who enjoys a story of human endeavour in the face of a complex and ever-changing task.
It is also a lesson to the very rich about how they might better use their money. The un-named buyer of the book was one such, but being a man of perception and taste, he gave the authors what was in effect a blank cheque to discover what they could from it. In effect he was a patron in the best ancient tradition. By his foresight and generosity we now have access to the ideas in one of the most important books in human history. Because it was a non-commercial venture, the images and other data that were created are available free on the website at www.archimedespalimpsest.org.
In different hands this story could have been dull. However, in a chatty but rigorous style, the authors tell the story of the purchase of the codex, its disbinding and experimental imaging and the discoveries that were made, mostly in the sequence that they happened. They get across their own feelings of joy and frustration, and how their preconceptions were proved wrong in striking and exciting ways. It is a joy to read about some of the greatest minds in their respective fields giving their spare time and their great ingenuity over a period of years to probe the ideas and mind of a man whom the authors assert was the greatest scientist of all time. Their excitement and other emotions ooze from the pages.
I have taught physics for much of my life. This book showed me how ignorant I was in this field. I used to say to my students that much of early 'modern' scientific study was 'merely' the restatement and examination of earlier works in Greek. I now know not only that these original thinkers were much more advanced than I, and even the authors of this book, thought, but that Archimedes' work in particular was used directly by Galileo, Newton and others. Indeed one great irony, literally as well as metaphorically as the reader will discover, was that Archimedes' very ideas were used in this study to produce readable images and to decode them.
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