The Works of Archimedes: Volume 2, On Spirals
Translation and Commentary

The first fully-fledged English translation of perhaps Archimedes' most attractive mathematical work, with comments on his scientific style.

Archimedes (Author), Reviel Netz (Edited and translated by)

9780521661454, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 May 2017

212 pages, 41 b/w illus. 5 tables
25.3 x 18 x 1.7 cm, 0.56 kg

This is the second volume of the first fully-fledged English translation of the works of Archimedes - antiquity's greatest scientist and one of the most important scientific figures in history. It covers On Spirals and is based on a reconsideration of the Greek text and diagrams, now made possible through new discoveries from the Archimedes Palimpsest. On Spirals is one of Archimedes' most dazzling geometrical tours de force, suggesting a manner of 'squaring the circle' and, along the way, introducing the attractive geometrical object of the spiral. The form of argument, no less than the results themselves, is striking, and Reviel Netz contributes extensive and insightful comments that focus on Archimedes' scientific style, making this volume indispensable for scholars of classics and the history of science, and of great interest for the scientists and mathematicians of today.

Introduction
Translation and commentary: On Spirals
Appendix: Pappus' collection IV.21-25
Scholia to On Spirals.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX], History of mathematics [PBX], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Humanities [H]