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Infinite Secrets
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Program Overview
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NOVA explores the ongoing efforts of scientists to restore the
1,000-year-old Archimedes Palimpsest.
The program:
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defines a palimpsest: a manuscript in which the original text
has been erased and the pages written on again.
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describes the discovery of the Palimpsest and its importance as
a text that contains Archimedes' previously unknown mathematical
treatises and illustrates Archimedes' process of discovery.
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explores Archimedes' life and some of his inventions, including
his weapons of war.
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relates how Archimedes has become famous as the man who shouted
"Eureka!" in the bath when he determined how to measure volume
through water displacement.
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documents Archimedes' prowess as a mathematician by providing
examples of some of his key ideas, such as his methods for
determining the volume of an object and estimating the value of
pi, his discoveries of complex mathematical shapes and the
concept of buoyancy, and his work with infinity.
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chronicles the history of the manuscript from Archimedes' time
to the present and details how the Palimpsest was
created—12th-century monks in possession of the book
erased the earlier recordings of Archimedes' work and reused the
pages for a prayer book.
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illustrates how scientists are revealing the manuscript's
concealed treasures.
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concludes with speculation about how much further the study of
mathematics might be if the manuscript had not been lost for a
millennium.
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