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| Reviel Netz | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reviel Netz |
| Birth date | 1968 |
| Birth place | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Occupation | Historian of mathematics, Classicist |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Cambridge University |
| Workplaces | Stanford University, University of Oxford, Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Reviel Netz is an Israeli historian of ancient mathematics and a Classicist noted for work on Greek mathematical texts, the transmission of textual traditions, and the history of scientific notation. He has held positions at leading institutions in Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and has authored influential studies on figures such as Euclid, Archimedes, and Apollonius of Perga. Netz's scholarship engages with manuscripts, philology, and the material culture of texts, situating ancient mathematical practice in broader intellectual contexts like Alexandria, Pergamum, and the Byzantine Empire.
Netz was born in Tel Aviv and raised in Israel, where he undertook undergraduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He pursued graduate work at Cambridge University under supervision that connected classical philology with history of science, engaging with scholars associated with King's College, Cambridge and the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. His doctoral research addressed transmission of Greek mathematical manuscripts preserved in collections such as the Bodleian Library and the Vatican Library. During his formative years he interacted with scholars from institutions including University College London, Oxford University Press, and the Warburg Institute.
Netz joined the faculty of Stanford University as Professor of Classics and History of Science after previous appointments at University of Oxford and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. At Stanford he worked alongside colleagues from departments and centers like the Department of Classics, Stanford University, the History of Science Program, Stanford University and the Humanities Center, Stanford University. He has been a fellow at research institutions including the Institute for Advanced Study and the European University Institute, and has participated in projects affiliated with the Cambridge Philological Society, the British Academy, and the American Philosophical Society.
Netz's research focuses on Greek mathematical texts and the materiality of writing. He has analyzed works by Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius of Perga, Ptolemy, and Hero of Alexandria, tracing transmission through manuscript traditions such as those in the Library of Alexandria's aftermath and the Islamic Golden Age collections that reached Toledo and Cairo. Netz has emphasized the role of scribal practices found in the Venetian Library of St. Mark and the Laurentian Library in shaping mathematical notation and diagrammatics. His work intersects with studies on Hellenistic science, the Alexandrian Museum, and commentaries by figures like Proclus, Eutocius of Ascalon, and Theon of Alexandria. Netz has also engaged with the reception of Greek mathematics in medieval centers such as Salerno, Sicily, and Constantinople, and with modern historiography represented by scholars in the History of Science Society, the International Congress of History of Science, and the British Society for the History of Science.
Netz argued for the importance of alternating rhetorical strategies and cognitive technologies in ancient mathematical practice, connecting palaeography from repositories like the Biblioteca Nacional de España and archival collections at the Bibliothèque nationale de France to conceptual developments visible in works by Diophantus and Nicomachus of Gerasa. He has collaborated with classicists, mathematicians, and paleographers from Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago.
Netz's books and editions include studies and critical editions of key Greek texts. Notable works treat Euclid's Elements, an edition and commentary on Archimedes's manuscripts, and analyses of scribal practices in the transmission of Apollonius's Conics. His publications have appeared with presses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Princeton University Press. He has contributed chapters to volumes issued by the Loeb Classical Library, the Proceedings of the British Academy, and the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Netz has published articles in journals including Journal for the History of Astronomy, Isis (journal), Classical Quarterly, American Journal of Philology, and Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie.
Netz has received fellowships and awards from institutions like the Guggenheim Foundation, the British Academy, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has been invited to deliver named lectures at the Institute for Advanced Study, the Warburg Institute, and the Bibliotheca Hertziana. His work has been recognized by societies including the Classical Association, the History of Science Society, and the Royal Society of Literature through prizes, fellowships, and visiting appointments at libraries such as the Bodleian Library and museums including the Ashmolean Museum.
As a teacher, Netz has supervised graduate students in programs at Stanford University, University of Oxford, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, advising theses on topics ranging from Hellenistic mathematics to manuscript studies. He has organized seminars and workshops with partners at the Wellcome Trust, the British Library, and the Getty Research Institute, and has participated in public outreach through lectures at the Royal Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and televised programs produced by BBC and NOVA (TV series). His curricular initiatives have connected classics, mathematics, and digital humanities projects with grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and collaborative ventures with the Digital Humanities Observatory.
Category:Historians of mathematics Category:Israeli academics Category:Classical scholars