I watched tonight's NOVA episode dealing with the ancient mathematician Archimedes and a long lost copy of his journal. Archimedes was way, way ahead of his time, so much so that our world could have been very different if his ideas had survived intact from so long ago. And the journey of his manuscript is a story in of itself, very interesting stuff. How could a Roman soldier be so stupid as to kill this great man? And then some monk overwrites his masterpiece to make a prayer book? It boggles the mind.

The recent discovery of a 1,000-year-old book brimming with priceless mathematical texts by the Greek mathematician Archimedes offers scholars new insights into old equations.