NEW YORK CITY, Jan. 22– Nearly one hundred patrons, scholars, conservators and librarians came to the Academy to hear speaker William Noel, PhD, Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books at The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, explore his book, The Strange Case of the Archimedes Codex, an astonishing manuscript that is now known to conceal unique texts written by Archimedes.

The Archimedes Codex is a medieval parchment manuscript containing 174 folios that exists now only as a prayer book that was completed in 1229. To make the prayer book, the scribes used parchment that had already been used for writing other books. “Little did they know, that beyond their writing, lay manuscript containing the unique source of On Floating Bodies in the original Greek, the only source for The Method of Mechanical Theorems, and a portion of the Stomachion,” explained Dr. Noel. Other texts that were used to create the prayer book are also unique, and several of them have yet to be identified.

The hidden texts have been through an ongoing conservation process done by expert conservators, revealed by imaging scientists, and read by scholars. Sophisticated multispectral digital imaging techniques have been used to enhance the underlying text to make it appear so that it can be seen and worked on by scholars.

This event was the fourth of an eight part 2007-2008 public lecture series being hosted by the Academy’s Section on the History of Medicine and Public Health. For more information on the upcoming lectures please visit: http://www.nyam.org/hist.med

Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of the public. Our research, education, community engagement, and evidence-based advocacy seek to improve the health of people living in cities, especially disadvantaged and vulnerable populations. The impact of these initiatives reaches into neighborhoods in New York City, across the country, and around the world. We work with community based organizations, academic institutions, corporations, the media, and government to catalyze and contribute to changes that promote health. Visit us online at www.nyam.org

Posted on 01/30/2008

Contact:
Malini Doddamani
Director of Communications
mdoddamani@nyam.org
212.822.7285