EUREKA! The Archimedes Palimpsest

Time: 6:00 p. m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location: Saint Augustine Center Room 300, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania

We begin with conversation and a light supper (donation: $10.00). When the discussion lags, about 6:30 to 6:45, Dr. William Noel, Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania, will speak on:

EUREKA! The Archimedes Palimpsest

The Archimedes Palimpsest, a 10th century manuscript, is the unique source for two of Archimedes treatises, The Method and Stomachion, and it is the unique source for the Greek text of On Floating Bodies. All these texts were erased in the thirteenth century, and written over. In private hands throughout much of the 20th century, the manuscript was sold at auction to a private collector in 1998, and subsequently deposited at The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland by the owner a few months later. Since that date the manuscript has been the subject of conservation, imaging, and scholarship. Entirely new texts from the ancient world have been discovered, and transcribed, using many different imaging techniques, including X ray flourescence imaging at SLAC. This lecture will describe the history of the Palimpsest, its imaging, and the recent discoveries

Some background on Noel:

William Noel is Director of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscript, and Director of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at The University of Pennsylvania Until September 2012 he was Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, a position he took up in 1997. He received his Ph.D in 1993 from Cambridge University England. Among the Positions he has held are Director of Studies in the History of Art, Downing College, Cambridge University and Assistant Curator of Manuscripts, The J.Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Since January 1999, Dr Noel has directed an international program to conserve, image and study the Archimedes Palimpsest, the unique source for three treatise by the ancient Greek mathematician (www.archimedespalimpsest.org) He has co-written a popular account of the project, entitled “The Archimedes Codex’, together with professor Reviel Netz, which published by Wiedenfeld and Nicolson (2007). He is the Curator of the exhibition: Lost and Found: The Secrets of Archimedes”, and the co-editor of the two volume publication by Cambridge University Press on The Archimedes Palimpsest

Directions: Villanova University is located on route 30, Lancaster Avenue, just east of I-476. If you drive to the meeting, enter Villanova by the main gate on Ithan Avenue, just north of Lancaster Avenue (route 30), opposite the Pavilion. Tell the guard you are attending the History of Mathematics Seminar. Ask for directions either to the Mendel Lot, where there is limited parking around the greenhouse, or to the St. Augustine lot. From the Mendel Lot, pass under the arch of Mendel Hall and turn left, follow the sidewalk with Mendel Hall on your left. The next building on your left is the Saint Augustine Center. Enter the building, proceed to the rear and take the elevator to the third floor. Exit to the right, then turn left; Room 300 is directly on the opposite side of the building. From the St. Augustine Lot enter the Center via the doorway at the end of the lot. Turn right and follow the hallway to the elevators; take the elevator to the third floor. Follow the directions to Room 300 as above. You can get in touch with me (Alan Gluchoff) at 610-905-1376 if you need help.

Public transportation: Take SEPTA's Paoli - Thorndale train to the Villanova station. If outbound from center city go down through the tunnel to the inbound side. From the inbound platform a few steps lead to the Mendel parking lot. Proceed as above to Saint Augustine 300.