You have a point. It would have been ideal to have the scholar, but there was no other option. This is also a case of science not exactly making great live television... this imaging project has been going on for 10 years. Things happen slowly. But, all the same... this is a first-of-its-kind sort of thing. Just acquiring the images represents years of work.
The main reason the text wasn't translated live: their ancient Greek scholar, Reviel Netz, was out of the country during the imaging run. But, translation generally occurs after the images have been optimized anyway.
What's ironic about the Archimedes Palimpsest is that the palimpsesting itself is likely the only reason we actually have the manuscript now. The Archimedes text was converted to a prayerbook -- a sacred thing that was more likely to be cherished and cared for.
Actually the palimpsest contains several documents besides the work of Archimedes. Most notable are transcripts of speeches by the orator Hyperides, no copies of which are known to exist anywhere else. Most recently these guys uncovered a speech about a battle in which the young Alexander the Great partcipated.
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You have a point. It would have been ideal to have the scholar, but there was no other option. This is also a case of science not exactly making great live television... this imaging project has been going on for 10 years. Things happen slowly. But, all the same... this is a first-of-its-kind sort of thing. Just acquiring the images represents years of work.
The main reason the text wasn't translated live: their ancient Greek scholar, Reviel Netz, was out of the country during the imaging run. But, translation generally occurs after the images have been optimized anyway.
What's ironic about the Archimedes Palimpsest is that the palimpsesting itself is likely the only reason we actually have the manuscript now. The Archimedes text was converted to a prayerbook -- a sacred thing that was more likely to be cherished and cared for.
Actually the palimpsest contains several documents besides the work of Archimedes. Most notable are transcripts of speeches by the orator Hyperides, no copies of which are known to exist anywhere else. Most recently these guys uncovered a speech about a battle in which the young Alexander the Great partcipated.