History of Science 206r : Archimedes and the Archimedean Tradition, Spring, 2009

John E. Murdoch, Barry C. Mazur, and Mark Schiefsky, Harvard College

This is an archive of the Original course website This course had the Harvard College/GSAS course number 2410, took place Spring 2008-2009, was in Exam Group: 16,17, took place in Science Center 359 on Thursdays, 2-4 PM.

This reading and discussion seminar featured selected works of Archimedes and payed attention to mathematical, historical and philosophical issues. It was open to undergraduates and graduates. Students were expected to attend and participate in the meetings of the seminar.

Each student was asked to give at least one presentation and to lead a seminar discussion about it. These student presentations could take one of two forms:

1. The student might begin with a précis of some material that the entire class has been assigned to read. He or she would then go on to highlight important points in the reading, to bring out difficulties in the reading or points needing amplification if there are some, and to frame questions suitable for discussion. The student would then lead the discussion that develops. 2. The presentation might be of a topic --- germane to our general reading --- that the student has researched, but is not necessarily something that will have been read by everyone in the seminar. Again, the student would lead a general discussion regarding this. Especially in the second case, it may be useful to have a handout produced by the student and distributed a week before the presentation, to help people prepare for it.

Course documents in PDF

206r_sup.pdf ARCHIMEDES_PROPOSITION_21_proof_and_how_used.pdf ARCHIMEDES_explanation_of_proof_of_Proposition_33.pdf
ARCHIMEDES_proof_structure_for_Proposition_33.pdf Acerbi_Phantom_Paths.pdf Against_the_Stoics_on_Common_conceptions.pdf
ArchSphereCut.pdf Archimedes_Clagett_diagrams.pdf Archimedes_PROPOSITION_34.pdf
Banu_Musa.pdf Binder4.pdf Casselman.pdf
Dijksterhuis_Archimedes.pdf Dijksterhuis_Archimedes_preface.pdf Dijksterhuis_Method.pdf
Dijksterhuis_QP.pdf Euclid_XII.pdf Eutocius_Loeb.pdf
Eutocius_Netz.pdf Eutocius_SCII_4_verEecke.pdf HS206r.pdf
Heath-DC.pdf Heath_Archimedes_Book_1.pdf Heath_Method.pdf
Heath_QP.pdf Heiberg_Archimedes_Opera_Omnia.pdf Heiberg_DC.pdf
Heiberg_Method.pdf Heiberg_Method_2etc.pdf Heiberg_QP.pdf
La_Methode_Relative_aux_theoremes_mecaniques.pdf Mau.pdf Maurolico_Liber_de_sphaera_et_cylindro.pdf
Maurolico_Praeparatio.pdf Measurement.of.the.Circle.pdf Method_prop2_Mark.pdf
Netz_Archimedes_Vol_1.pdf Netz_SC2_4_Eutocius.pdf Proclus.pdf
QP_14_15_16.pdf SC_II_4_Dijksterhuis.pdf SC_II_4_Heath.pdf
SC_II_4_Heiberg.pdf SC_II_4_ver_Eecke.pdf S_and_C.pdf
S_and_C_Dijksterhuis.pdf Schiefsky_DC.pdf Schiefsky_Method.pdf
Sphere_and_Cylinder.pdf Tinemue_De_curvis_superficiebus.pdf VerEecke_DC.pdf
Ver_Eecke_Archimede.pdf XII_and_XIII_and_XIV_and_XV_Banu_Musa.pdf assignment1.pdf
history_of_the_Banu_Musa.pdf minutes_2009-02-19.pdf plan.pdf

Browse documents