Long-Lost Page of Archimedes Manuscript Unearthed

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A French researcher named Victor Gysembergh has identified a long-missing page from the famed Archimedes Palimpsest, which was discovered hidden in the archives of a fine arts museum in Blois, France. The parchment, which was reused centuries ago as a Christian prayer book, preserves a 10th-century copy of a treatise by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes.

Why it matters

The Archimedes Palimpsest is a highly significant historical document that contains some of the earliest known writings of the renowned mathematician and physicist Archimedes. The discovery of this missing page could help unlock further insights into Archimedes' groundbreaking work on geometry and physics.

The details

Gysembergh matched the Blois page to early-1900s photos of the palimpsest taken in Constantinople, noting the handwriting, geometric diagrams, and even copying errors. The page contains part of Archimedes' treatise "on the sphere and the cylinder," in which he precisely described a sphere's surface area and volume. The other side of the page bears a later drawing, likely added in the 1900s to boost the page's market value.

• The Archimedes Palimpsest was auctioned in 1998 to an anonymous buyer rumored to be Jeff Bezos.
• The newly discovered page was found in the archives of a fine arts museum in Blois, France.

What’s next

Scientific American adds that it's not clear if this newly unearthed page will also now find a home at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where the rest of the Archimedes Palimpsest is housed.