Ancient Science and Particle Physics

Researchers at Stanford's Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) have used x-rays generated by the accelerator to reveal writings by the Greek scientist and mathematician Archimedes. The writings are a copy of the original Greek scrolls made by a scribe on goatskin parchment. Three centuries later, a monk scrubbed off the original writing and wrote prayers over it. Advanced technologies like ultraviolet and infrared filters have already been used to reveal most of the new text, but the new technology is allowing the still unreadable pages to be revealed. The press release can be found here, and the Stanford webpage dedicated to the project is here.