USA: Works of Archimedes are being deciphered by Stanford University scientists
- 00:01:19
- ITN Source
USA: Works of Archimedes are being deciphered by Stanford University scientists
After more than 1000 years of obscurity, scientists at Stanford University are deciphering previously unreadable works of the third century BC mathematician Archimedes. Using an X-ray imaging technique, called X-ray fluorescence imaging, scientists are working to lift his writings from a goatskin parchment manuscript that up until now has concealed several works of Archimedes, one of the founders of modern mathematics. In 1998, the manuscript was purchased by an anonymous collector for $2 million (usd), who entrusted it to The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Modern imaging techniques highlighted minute traces of original ink, but nearly 20 percent of the fragile pages remained unable to be deciphered. "I can look to the calcium channel and update my plotter and you will find the Archimedes text appearing as clear as day on your screen. This is a eureka moment," said Will Noel of the Walters art museum. Researchers led by Uwe Bergmann, a physicist at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory in Menlo Park, California and his colleague Robert Morton have been overseeing the project to uncover the missing text. "At the end, what you want to do is you want to learn something about one of the greatest minds ever alive," said Bergmann. The team, comprising X-ray scientists, rare document conservators and scholars of ancient mathematics, plans to transcribe the text onto a DVD and distribute it globally. 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 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.
ITN Source | August 5, 2006
