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I'm investigating the conics in ancient Greece, I have the works of Apollonius, Diocles and Euclid, written with great commentary (both explaining the math and the historical context) that make them very readable and enjoyable.

I have not had that much luck with Pappus. I'm particularly interested in the works of Pappus on conics, and while I don't need a "direct translation" I'm looking for something close (think Heath's version of Conics of Apollonius) that adresses it and also has commentary to make it understandable and provide historical context.

Any sources or book recommendations are welcome.

Big Brother
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Joaquin Brandan
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1 Answers1

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The first translation into a modern European language of Pappu's Collection is the 1933 French edition by Paul Ver Eecke (Commandino had put it in Latin in 1588). Here you can find a review of that translation.

There no complete English version, but the only books of Pappus dealing with conics are the fourth and the seventh and, quite luckily, you can find the fourth and seventh book with a literal translation and a commentary on textual, historical, and mathematical aspects of the Collection published by Springer.

You don't ask for the textual sources of Pappus work, anyway here you can find an old but very interesting paper about the manuscript tradition of the Collection, from which one can understand the tremendous work needed to provide a full edition and translation of the work of Pappus.

user6530
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