• click here to return to the homepage •
Home > Categories > Books > Non-Fiction > The Archimedes Codex review
On 29th October 1998 the front page of the New York Times reported that an extremely ugly, unprepossessing book had just been sold at Christies New York for us$2,000,000. It appeared to be the battered prayer book of a medieval priest, charred by fire, doused with water, and devoured by mould. Yet underneath the prayers, barely visible below the stains and the soot, lay hidden the oldest surviving manuscript of the ancient world's greatest mathematitian, Archimedes of Syracuse.
This is the true story of the greatest scientific codex extant today: the Archimedes Palimpsest. over a thousand years old, this codex survived against all odds. It travelled through crusades and world wars, from east to west and overseas. But only now, thanks to ultra-modern imaging techniques, are its hidden contents finally being brought to light with surprising results that will fundamentally change our understanding of the history of science.
Greg Mandel : 1 : Mindstar Rising
Discworld : Night Watch
A Short History of Progress 
Scar Night
Galileo's Dream
Darkglass Mountain: 3: The Infinity Gate
Ragnarok 1 - Absorption
Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets Colour Edition
Avengers: Age of Ultron: The Movie Storybook
Countdown to Danger #2: Shockwave
Rise of the Jain 3 - The Human
Queen of Storms
Tales of Aotearoa - 3 - Maui and the Secret of FireProduct reviews...
Members are welcome to post a review. You will need to log in to post yours.
Review by: vivid (Matt)
Dated: 28th of October, 2007
I wasnt too sure what to expect from this one. I was hoping for more details of the original text itself but was a little disappointed to find it was more the tale of how the researchers uncovered and revealed said text.
What little of the content they did include I found really quite interesting, but by far the most fascinating section for me was the description of the materials used in the manufacture of the book: the pages of parchment (sheepskin treated with pumice and egg white) and the ink, made from gallic acid and various chemicals. It was really quite fascinating to read how the ink was made, and I plan to try making some myself.
The imaging technology used to reveal the long lost writings of Archimedes was quite an achievement, and in many places quite groundbreaking. Such technology could be adapted to a number of purposes, and I believe has in fact already been applied by other fields.
All in all though this book wasnt at all what I was hoping for, or expecting, it did capture my attention enough to finish it but its not one I would recommend as casual reading to any but the most die-hard scientific readers. Its quite dry stuff really but it holds a lot of intellectual appeal, for those who find it so.
Random listing from 'Books'...
Cass has stumbled on an entirely different kind of physics. And she has travelled to a remote experimental facility in the hope of bringing the tantalizing alternative to life.
The experiment is wildly successful: the novo-vacuum is more stable than the ordinary vacuum around it, and a region in which the new physics holds sway proceeds to expand at half the speed of light. Six hundred years later, and more than two thousand inhabited ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Next to being shot at and missed, nothing is really quite as satisfying as an income tax refund."
F. J. Raymond
