We are going to be more flexible with our First Wednesdays Virtual Speaker Series by offering the presentations on different days of the week, and different weeks of the month, therefore, its new name will be HOM SIGMAA Virtual Speaker Series.
You are cordially invited to attend the first HOM SIGMAA Virtual Speaker Series on Wednesday, Friday, March 7th at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern) for a talk by E. A. Hunter from the University of Chicago. titled “Archimedes Calculating π and Eating It Too”.
The Zoom meeting link and passcode have been posted in the announcement for this talk on MAA Connect. You may also contact Dr. Ximena Catepillán for the link and passcode.
Abstract:
No other text in the Archimedean corpus has a richer history than Measurement of the Circle. Such richness comes at a price, however, as many scholars doubt the authenticity of the extant text, citing its seemingly negligent argumentation and the triviality of the second proposition, which also relies on the third’s approximation of pi. These qualities are at odds with our image of Archimedes, leading modern editors to modify the text: E.J. Dijksterhuis relegates proposition two and Thomas Heath omits it entirely. This presentation challenges the assumption that the primary aim of ancient Greek mathematicians was axiomatic-deductive rigor. Instead, it situates Measurement of the Circle within its broader literary and intellectual context-one with its own traditions and textual conventions. Through a close analysis of the rhetorical techniques and structural features of the propositions, this presentation reevaluates the text’s authenticity and demonstrates how the propositions function within this framework. While the authenticity of any ancient work will always remain open to debate, a key takeaway is the playfulness present in Archimedes’ mathematical writing. The presentation concludes by reflecting on the fragility of our connection to ancient Greek mathematics and the ways in which modern expectations shape the evaluation of historical sources.
Short bio:
E. A. Hunter is a Ph.D. student in the History of Science at the University of Chicago.
Upcoming talks:
The next talk will be on April 4th. The speaker will be Ciarán Mac an Bhaird of Maynooth University (Republic of Ireland). We will update this as we get more information.