| August 4, 2006 |
Previous | Next |
Ancient Writings Revealed!
After  figuring out the answer to a problem, the mathematician and engineer Archimedes once shouted "Eureka!" and ran naked through the streets. The enthusiastic Sicilian lived between 287-212 B.C., and is widely recognized today as one of the most important minds of ancient Greece. At some point along the way, the science whiz recorded some of his ideas on a papyrus manuscript. In the Middle Ages, though, a monk wrote over the manuscript to create a prayer book. It wasn't until 1906 that the underlining layer of Archimedes' writing was discovered. And it wasn't until August 4, 2006 (today!) that an x-ray at the Stanford Synchotron Radiation Laboratory cut through the monk's notations to read the Greek text below. Or so the Exploratorium, Stanford University, and the National Science Foundation hope. Follow along on their live webcast as the x-ray examines the 1,000-year-old document—and the results are transmitted simultaneously around the world. We'll be listening for shouts of "Eureka!" (in Science) |
|
Email this Pick
Save to del.icio.us
Save to My Web
Digg This
|
|
|
|
|
