Fabio Acerbi

CNRS, UMR8560, Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris

Personal Data

Name: Fabio Acerbi

Place and date of birth: Livorno, March 8, 1965

Nationality: Italian

Institutional affiliation: Chargé de recherche de classe normale, CNRS, UMR8560 Centre Alexandre Koyré, 27, Rue Damesme, 75013 Paris, France

Mailing address (work): UMR8560 Centre Alexandre Koyré, 27 Rue Damesme, 75013 Paris, France

Telephone (work): ++33 (0)1 40 78 26 35

Mailing address (home): Frazione Monticello 23, 33015 Moggio Udinese (UD), Italy

e-mail address: fabacerbi@gmail.com

Languages: French, English, Ancient Greek, Ancient and Mediaeval Latin

Curriculum Studiorum

October 1983 – March 1988. Undergraduate studies in Physics at the University of Pisa. Degree in Physics: March 2, 1988. Title of the thesis: “Confinamento, schermaggio e rappresentazioni non regolari dell’algebra dei campi carichi in una classe di modelli”. Supervisor: dott. G. Morchio. Final marks: 110/110.

October 1988 – October 1993. Frequency of the courses of the PhD program in Mathematical

Physics at the International School for Advanced Studies (ISAS) in Trieste. Magister Philosophiæ in Mathematical Physics: October 17, 1990. Title of the thesis: “Nonregular representations of CCR algebras and the problem of fermion bosonization in 1+1 dimensions”. Supervisor: Prof. Franco Strocchi. Final marks: 30/30 cum laude. Doctor Philosophiæ in Mathematical Physics: October 14, 1993. Title of the thesis: “Nonregular representations of CCR algebras”. Supervisor: Prof. Franco Strocchi.

November 1993 – June 1994. Post-Doctoral fellowship at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium).

Fellowships and Employment

October 1995 – June 1999. Teaching of mathematics and physics in public high schools in Italy.

November 1999 – December 2001. Research fellowship in “History of science in antiquity and the beginnings of modern era” at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Roma “Tor Vergata”.

November 2000. Winner of a post (teaching of mathematics) in public high schools in Italy.

December 2001 – December 2002. Research fellowship in “Combinatorial arguments and concept of chance in ancient scientific thought” at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Roma “Tor Vergata”.

December 2002 – August 2005. Teaching of mathematics in public high schools in Italy.

October 2005. Appointed to a post of “Chargé de recherche de 1^ère classe” at the CNRS, UMR8613 “Savoirs, textes, langage”, Villeneuve d’Ascq (France).

October 2012. Transfer to the UMR8560, Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris.

December 2013 and March 2014. Italian habilitation for full professorship (“professore di prima fascia”), sections 11/C2 “Logica, Storia e Filosofia della Scienza” and 01/A1 “Logica Matematica e Matematiche Complementari”.

October 2014 – July 2015. Visiting researcher at the Research Training Group “Philosophy, Science, and the Sciences” of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

October 2017 – July 2018. Visiting researcher at the Research Training Group “Philosophy, Science, and the Sciences” of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Coordination of Research Projects

October 2009 – March 2014. Coordinator of the project “Algorithmic Deductive Patterns in pre-Algebraic Mathematics” (acronym ALGO) funded by the French institution ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche; project ANR-09-BLAN-0300-01).

Participation in Research Projects

2013 – 2015: “El autor bizantino: transmisor y reinventor del legado antiguo. Subproyecto 2: Los manuscritos como vehiculo del conocimiento proyectos de investigación fundamental no orientada”,

n. FFI2012-37908-C02-02 of the program “Proyectos de investigación fundamental no orientada”, founded by the Spanish government, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Agencia estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS). 2016 – 2018: “El autor bizantino II: Transmisión de los textos y bibliotecas”, n. FFI2015-65118-C2-2­P of the program “Proyectos de investigación fundamental no orientada”, founded by the Spanish government, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Agencia estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS).

Publications

1. Mathematical Physics

1.1 RESEARCH ARTICLES

1) F. Acerbi, G. Morchio, F. Strocchi, “Algebraic Fermion Bosonization”, Letters in Mathematical Physics 26 (1992), 13-22, DOI 10.1007/BF00420514.

2) F. Acerbi, G. Morchio, F. Strocchi, “Infrared Singular Fields and Nonregular Representations of CCR Algebras”, Journal of Mathematical Physics 34 (1993), 899-914, DOI 10.1063/1.530200.

3) F. Acerbi, G. Morchio, F. Strocchi, “Theta Vacua, Charge Confinement and Charged Sectors from Nonregular Representations of CCR Algebras”, Letters in Mathematical Physics 27 (1993), 1-11, DOI 10.1007/BF00739583.

4) F. Acerbi, G. Morchio, F. Strocchi, “Nonregular Representations of CCR Algebras and Algebraic Fermion Bosonization”, Reports on Mathematical Physics 33 (1993), 7-19, DOI 10.1016/0034-4877(93)90036-E.

2. History of Science

2.1 BOOKS 1) Euclide, Tutte le Opere. A cura di F. Acerbi, Milano, Bompiani 2007, 2713 pp., ISBN 978-88­452-5975-3. 2) F. Acerbi, Il silenzio delle sirene. La matematica greca antica, Roma, Carocci 2010, 448 pp., ISBN 978-88-430-5579-1.

3) Diofanto, De polygonis numeris. Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione italiana e commento di F. Acerbi, Mathematica Graeca Antiqua 1, Pisa, Roma, Fabrizio Serra Editore 2011, 252 pp., ISBN 978-88-6227-412-8.

4) Archimede, Metodo. Nel laboratorio del genio. A cura di F. Acerbi, C. Fontanari, M. Guardini, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri 2013, 157 pp., ISBN 978-88-339-2475-5.

5) Héron d’Alexandrie, Metrica. Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes de commentaire par F. Acerbi et B. Vitrac, Mathematica Graeca Antiqua 4, Pisa, Roma, Fabrizio Serra Editore 2014, 712 pp., ISBN 978-88-6227-672-6.

2.2 DIRECTION OF RESEARCH WORKS 1) F. Acerbi, A. Garcea, Grammaire et mathématiques en Grèce et à Rome, thematic issue of Histoire, Épistémologie, Langage 30 (2008).

2) Revision of the volumes of the collection “Mathematica Graeca Antiqua”, Fabrizio Serra Editore (Pisa, Roma). Volumes published so far: 1) Diofanto, De polygonis numeris, Introduzione, testo critico, traduzione italiana e commento di F. Acerbi; 2) Jamblique, In Nicomachi Arithmeticam, Introduction, texte critique, traduction française et notes de commentaire par N. Vinel, 2013; 3) Domninus of Larissa, Encheiridion and spurious works, Introduction, critical text, English translation, and commentary by P. Riedlberger, 2013; 4) Héron d’Alexandrie, Metrica, Introduction, texte critique, traduction et notes de commentaire par F. Acerbi et B. Vitrac, 2014.

2.3 RESEARCH ARTICLES 1) F. Acerbi, “Plato: Parmenides 149a7-c3. A Proof by Complete Induction?”, Archive for History

of Exact Sciences 55 (2000), 57-76.

2) F. Acerbi, “Le fonti del mito platonico di Galileo”, Physis 37 (2000), 359-392.

3) F. Acerbi, “Drowning by Multiples. Remarks on the Fifth Book of Euclid’s Elements, with Special Emphasis on Prop. 8”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 57 (2003), 175-242, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-002-0061-y.

4) F. Acerbi, “On the Shoulders of Hipparchus. A Reappraisal of Ancient Greek Combinatorics”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 57 (2003), 465-502, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-003-0067-0.

5) R. Netz, F. Acerbi, N. Wilson, “Towards a Reconstruction of Archimedes’ Stomachion”, SCIAMVS 5 (2004), 67-99.

6) F. Acerbi, “A Reference to Perfect Numbers in Plato’s Theaetetus”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 59 (2005), 319-348, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-004-0094-5.

7) F. Acerbi, “Euclid’s Pseudaria”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 62 (2008), 511-551, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-007-0017-3.

8) F. Acerbi, “In What Proof Would a Geometer Use the ποδιαία?”, The Classical Quarterly 58 (2008), 120-126, DOI: 10.1017/S0009838808000098.

9) F. Acerbi, “Conjunction and Disjunction in Euclid’s Elements”, Histoire, Épistémologie, Langage 30 (2008), 21-47.

10) F. Acerbi, “The Meaning of πλασµατικόν in Diophantus’ Arithmetica”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 63 (2009), 5-31, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-008-0028-8.

11) F. Acerbi, “Transitivity Cannot Explain Perfect Syllogisms”, Rhizai 6 (2009), 23-42.

12) F. Acerbi, “Homeomeric Lines in Greek Mathematics”, Science in Context 23 (2010), 1-37, DOI: 10.1017/S0269889709990226.

13) F. Acerbi, “Two Approaches to Foundations in Greek Mathematics: Apollonius and Geminus”, Science in Context 23 (2010), 151-186, DOI: 10.1017/S0269889710000037.

14) F. Acerbi, N. Vinel, B. Vitrac, “Les Prolégomènes à l’Almageste. Une édition à partir des manuscrits les plus anciens : Introduction générale – Parties I-III”, SCIAMVS 11 (2010), 53-210.

15) F. Acerbi, “The Language of the “Givens”: its Forms and its Use as a Deductive Tool in Greek Mathematics”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 65 (2011), 119-153, DOI: 10.1007/s00407­010-0072-z.

16) F. Acerbi, “Pappus, Aristote et le τόπος ἀναλυόµενος”, Revue des Études Grecques 124 (2011), 93-113.

17) F. Acerbi, “The Geometry of Burning Mirrors in Greek Antiquity. Analysis, Heuristic, Projections, Lemmatic Fragmentation”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 65 (2011), 471­497, DOI: 10.1007/s00407-010-0076-8.

18) F. Acerbi, “Completing Diophantus, De polygonis numeris, prop. 5”, Historia Mathematica 38 (2011), 548-560, DOI: 10.1016/j.hm.2011.05.002.

19) F. Acerbi, “The Number of Endings of the Adjective συναµφότερος”, Glotta 88 (2012), 1-8.

20) F. Acerbi, “I codici stilistici della matematica greca: dimostrazioni, procedure, algoritmi”, Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, n. s., 101(2) (2012), 167-214.

21) F. Acerbi, “Commentari, scolii e annotazioni marginali ai trattati matematici greci”, Segno e Testo 10 (2012), 135-216 (with 15 plates).

22) F. Acerbi, “Why John Chortasmenos Sent Diophantus to the Devil”, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 53 (2013), 379-389.

23) F. Acerbi, “Aristotle and Euclid’s Postulates”, The Classical Quarterly 63 (2013), 680-685, DOI: 10.1017/S0009838813000177.

24) F. Acerbi, “Ones”, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 53 (2013), 708-725.

25) F. Acerbi, “Funzioni e modalità di trasmissione delle notazioni numeriche nella trattatistica matematica greca: due esempi paradigmatici”, Segno e Testo 11 (2013), 123-165 (with 12 plates).

26) F. Acerbi, “La concezione archimedea degli oggetti matematici”, La Matematica nella Società e nella Cultura, s. I, 6 (2013), 227-252.

27) F. Acerbi, “Types, Function, and Organization of the Collections of Scholia to the Greek Mathematical Treatises”, Trends in Classics 6 (2014), special issue The Birth of Scholiography. From Types to Texts, ed. by F. Montana, M.A. Porro, 115-169, DOI: 10.1515/tc-2014-0008.

28) F. Acerbi, P. Riedlberger, “Uno scolio tardo-antico sulla rimozione di rapporti, fonte dello Pseudo-Domnino”, Koinonia 38 (2014), 395-426.

29) F. Acerbi, L. Del Corso, “Tolomeo in Laurenziana: il primo papiro della Psephophoria (PL II/33)”, Analecta Papyrologica 26 (2014), 37-73 (with 8 plates).

30) F. Acerbi, A. Lami, “Una pagina di antropologia filosofica nel codice matematico Par. gr. 2344”, Galenos 8 (2014), 133-148.

31) F. Acerbi, M. Ugaglia, “Aristotle on Placing Gnomons Round (Ph. 3.4, 203a10–15)”, The Classical Quarterly 65 (2015), 587-608, DOI: 10.1017/S0009838815000439.

32) F. Acerbi, “Unaccountable Numbers”, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 55 (2015), 902­

926.

33) F. Acerbi, “Traces of Menelaus’ Sphaerica in Greek Scholia to the Almagest”, SCIAMVS 16 (2015), 91-124.

34) F. Acerbi, G. Vuillemin-Diem, “Un nouveau manuscrit de la “collection philosophique” utilisé par Guillaume de Moerbeke : le Par. gr. 2575”, Przegląd Tomistyczny 21 (2015), 219-288.

35) F. Acerbi, “The Meaning of ἑνὶ ὀνόµατι in the Sectio Canonis”, Interpretatio A 2 (2016), 1-18.

36) F. Acerbi, S. Martinelli Tempesta, B. Vitrac, “Gli interventi autografi di Giorgio Gemisto Pletone nel codice matematico Marc. gr. Z. 301”, Segno e Testo 14 (2016), 411-456 (with 2 plates).

37) F. Acerbi, “Byzantine Recensions of Greek Mathematical and Astronomical Texts: A Survey”, Estudios bizantinos 4 (2016), 133-213 (with 4 plates), DOI: 10.1344/EBizantinos2016.4.8.

38) F. Acerbi, “The Mathematical Scholia Vetera to Almagest I.10–15. With a Critical Edition of the Diagrams and an Interpretation of Their Symmetry Properties”, SCIAMVS 18 (2017), 133-259.

39) F. Acerbi, “I problemi aritmetici attribuiti a Demetrio Cidone e Isacco Argiro”, Estudios bizantinos 5 (2017), 131-206 (with 4 plates). DOI: 10.1344/EBizantinos2017.5.6.

2.4 CONTRIBUTIONS TO LEXICA AND COLLECTIVE VOLUMES 1) F. Acerbi, “Una scuola matematica alessandrina?”, in C. Bartocci, P. Odifreddi (eds.), La Matematica. Vol. 1. I luoghi e i tempi, Torino, Einaudi 2007, 65-89, ISBN 978-88-06-16424-9.

2) F. Acerbi, APOLLONIUS OF PERGA, ARCHIMEDES, DAMIANUS OF LARISSA, HERO OF ALEXANDRIA, HYPATIA, in N. Koertge (ed.), New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Detroit, Ch. Scribner’s Sons 2008, vol. I, 83-85, 85-91, vol. II, 233-234, vol. III, 283-286, 435-437, ISBN 978-0-684-31320-7.

3) F. Acerbi, “Une école mathématique alexandrine ?”, in C. Bartocci, P. Odifreddi (eds.), La mathématique. Vol. 1. Les lieux et les temps, Paris, Éditions du CNRS 2009, 73-102, ISBN 978­2-271-06817-0 (French translation of item 1).

4) F. Acerbi, “Problemata Physica XV-XVI”, in B. Centrone (ed.), Studi sui Problemata Physica aristotelici, Napoli, Bibliopolis 2011, 115-142, ISBN 978-88-7088-608-5.

5) F. Acerbi, “I geometri greci e gli specchi ustori”, in I. Gabbani (ed.), Matematica, cultura e società 2007-2008, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale 2011, 187-230, ISBN 978-88-7642-382-6.

6) F. Acerbi, I. Pérez Martín, “Gli scolii autografi di Manuele Briennio nel Par. gr. 2390”, in L. Del Corso, F. De Vivo, A. Stramaglia (eds.), Nel segno del testo. Edizioni, materiali e studi per Oronzo Pecere, Papyrologica Florentina 44, Firenze, Gonnelli 2015, 103-143 (with 10 plates), ISBN 978-88-7468-045-0.

7) F. Acerbi, “Composition and Removal of Ratios in Geometric and Logistic Texts from the Hellenistic to the Byzantine Period”, in M. Sialaros (ed.), Revolutions and Continuity in Greek Mathematics, Berlin, Springer 2018, 131-188.

8) F. Acerbi, DIOPHANTUS, EUCLID IN LATE ANTIQUITY, EUTOCIUS, GEOMETRY, MATHEMATICS, NUMBER SYMBOLISM, OPTICS, PAPPUS, PTOLEMY IN LATE ANTIQUITY, SERENUS OF ANTINOE.

in O. Nicholson, M. Humphries (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Oxford, Oxford University Press 2018.

2.5 CONTRIBUTIONS TO WORKSHOPS

2.6 OTHERS

2.6.1 Essay reviews

1) F. Acerbi, “Archimedes and the Angel: Phantom Paths from Problems to Equations”, Aestimatio 2 (2005), 169-226.

2.6.2 Reviews

1) ΔΕΔΟΜΕΝΑ. Euclid’s Data or the Importance of Being Given. The Greek Text translated and explained by Christian Marinus Taisbak. Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press 2003, in Nuncius 18 (2003), 876-879.

2) S. Medas, De rebus nauticis: l’arte della navigazione nel mondo antico. Roma, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider 2004, in Aestimatio 1 (2004), 126-130.

3) C.J. Tuplin, T.E. Rihll (eds.), Science and Mathematics in Ancient Greek Culture. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2002, in Nuncius 19 (2004), 432-434.

4) Cleomedes Lectures on Astronomy: a Translation of The Heavens with an Introduction and Commentary by Alan C. Bowen and Robert B. Todd. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press 2004, in Nuncius 20 (2005), 232-233.

5) D. Fowler, The Mathematics of Plato’s Academy: A New Reconstruction. Second Edition, Oxford, Clarendon Press (Oxford University Press) 1999, in Nuncius 20 (2005), 449-450. 6) R. Rashed, H. Bellosta, Ibrâhîm ibn Sinân. Logique et géométrie au X^e siècle.

Leiden/Boston/Köln, Brill 2000, in Nuncius 20 (2005), 452-453.

7) J. Schönbeck, Euklid. Basel/Boston/Berlin, Birkhaüser 2003, in Nuncius 21 (2006), 157-159.

8) J. Christianidis (ed.), Classics in the History of Greek Mathematics. Dordrecht/Boston/London,

Kluwer 2004, in Nuncius 21 (2006), 382-383.

9) J. Christianidis (ed.), Classics in the History of Greek Mathematics. Dordrecht/Boston/London, Kluwer 2004, in Aestimatio 3 (2006), 107-112 (items 8 and 9 are different).

10) R. Rashed, Geometry and Dioptrics in Classical Islam. London, Al-Furqân Islamic Heritage Foundation 2005, in Nuncius 21 (2006), 385-386.

11) H.L.L. Busard, Campanus of Novara and Euclid’s Elements. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag 2005, in Nuncius 22 (2007), 139-140.

12) J. Evans, J.L. Berggren, Geminos’s Introduction to the Phenomena: A Translation and Study of a Hellenistic Survey of Astronomy. Princeton, Princeton University Press 2006, in Nuncius 22 (2007), 361-362.

13) C.A. Huffman, Archytas of Tarentum. Pythagorean, Philosopher and Mathematician King. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2005, in Aestimatio 4 (2007), 85-92.

14) D. Lehoux, Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World. Parapegmata and Related Texts in Classical and Near-Eastern Societies. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2007, in Nuncius 23 (2008), 134-135.

15) R. Netz, W. Noel, The Archimedes Codex. Revealing the Secrets of the World’s Greatest Palimpsest. London, Weidenfeld e Nicolson 2007, in Nuncius 23 (2008), 136-138.

16) J. Friberg, Amazing Traces of a Babylonian Origin in Greek Mathematics. New Jersey, etc., World Scientific Press 2007, in Nuncius 24 (2009), 190-191.

17) M.N. Fried, S. Unguru, Apollonius of Perga’s Conica. Text, Context, Subtext. Leiden, Boston, Köln, Brill 2001, in Isis 100 (2009), 646-647.

18) P. Kunitzsch, R. Lorch (eds.), Theodosius, Sphaerica. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag 2010, in Nuncius 25 (2010), 405-406.

19) R. Rashed, H. Bellosta (eds.), Apollonius de Perge, La section des droites selon des rapports. Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter 2010, in Nuncius 25 (2010), 406-407.

20) R. Rashed (ed.), Apollonius de Perge, Coniques. Tome 2.1: Livres II et III. Berlin, New York, Walter de Gruyter 2010, in Nuncius 26 (2011), 393-394.

21) H. Sefrin-Weis (ed.), Pappus of Alexandria, Book 4 of the Collection. London, etc., Springer 2010, in Nuncius 26 (2011), 395-396.

22) R. Masià-Fornos (ed.), Arquimedes, Sobre l’esfera i el cilindre. Barcelona, Fundació Bernat Metge 2010, in Nuncius 26 (2011), 401-402.

23) R. Netz, W. Noel, N. Tchernetska, N. Wilson (eds.), The Archimedes Palimpsest. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2011, in Aestimatio 10 (2013), 34-46.

2.6.3 Popularisation 1) F. Acerbi, “Tutti e nessuno”, Punti Critici 1 (1999), 129-136.

Research Activities Other than Publications Courses Taught

April 2013. “Tradizione ed ecdotica dei testi matematici greci”, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università di Milano-Statale, Italy (10 hours).

October 2014 – March 2015. “The Method of Analysis and Synthesis in Greek Mathematics”, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin (32 hours).

March–May 2015. “Tradizione ed edizione dei testi matematici greci”, Scuola Superiore, Università di Udine, Italy (14 hours).

April–July 2015. (with J. Beere) “The Theory of Irrational Lines in Greek Mathematics: Book X of Euclid’s Elements, its Predecessors, its Fortleben”, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin (42 hours).

October–December 2015. “L’Almagesto di Tolomeo. I. Tradizione e problemi di edizione dell’Almagesto e dei corpora di annotazioni marginali. II. Trigonometria sferica, modelli cinematici del Sole e della Luna nell’Almagesto (libri I-V)” Scuola Superiore, Università di Udine, Italy (28 hours).

October–December 2016. “Gli Arithmetica di Diofanto” Scuola Superiore, Università di Udine, Italy (16 hours).

October 2017 – July 2018. (with J. Beere) “Language and Reasoning in Greek Mathematical Texts”, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin (2 semesters; 58 hours).