The first winner of the Neumann Prize of the British Society for the 
History of Mathematics (BSHM) has been announced at the Society’s Autumn 
meeting, held in London on Saturday 19th ^ September.

The prize, which will be awarded every two years, is for the best book 
in the history of mathematics which is aimed at a broad audience. This 
year’s winner is /The Archimedes Codex / by Reviel Netz and William 
Noel. It tells both of the life and work of one of the ancient world’s 
greatest mathematicians, Archimedes of Syracuse (/c./ 287 BC – /c./ 212 
BC), and of the hi-tech scientific detective work surrounding the 
rediscovery of a 10th century copy of some of Archimedes’ work which had 
been hidden beneath the text of a 13th century prayer book.

The book weaves together a number of themes, including the importance 
and creativity of early mathematics, the production and transmission of 
ancient manuscripts, and the big science which surrounds the analysis of 
such documents.

Professor Martin Campbell-Kelly of the University of Warwick, and chair 
of the judging panel for the Neumann Prize, said that “although the 
panel was faced with a strong shortlist of books /The Archimedes Codex, 
/with its readable combination of history and modern scientific 
sleuthing, emerged as a clear winner.”

Reviel Netz, Professor of Classics at Stanford University in California, 
and Dr William Noel Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books from The 
Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland were delighted with the award. 
Speaking on behalf of his co-author, Professor Reviel Netz stated that 
“The British Society for the History of Mathematics has an international 
reputation for scholarship, and we are hugely honoured to be the 
inaugural winners of this award.”

Dr Peter Neumann OBE, the academic and Emeritus Fellow of The Queen’s 
College, Oxford in whose honour the prize in named, stated “I am very 
gratified that the standard was so very high on this, the first year of 
award. I was very pleased with the remarkable diversity of the books on 
the shortlist and that from that shortlist, the award should be made for 
the remarkable book by Reviel Netz and William Noel.”

Tony Mann
Head of Department, Mathematical Sciences
School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
University of Greenwich
Old Royal Naval College
Park Row, London
SE10 9LS
Phone: 020 8331 8709   Fax 020 8331 8665
[log in to unmask]   http://staffweb.cms.gre.ac.uk/~A.Mann/

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