Acknowledgments
There is always some satisfaction involved in the transformation of ideas, even vague ones at first, into models and applying these in the analysis of ancient works. The medievalist Jurgis Baltušaitis wrote: “I only have one method: go to the sources, search for the real texts beyond commentaries and studies. It is only by returning to the source that we can achieve an exact vision of the issues involved. We follow a well-trodden path but in the end, we discover a rather different landscape.” None of the authors in this volume, who proceeded according to this modus operandi, wished to remain on the “Regensburg platform.” This was how Vassily Kandinsky referred to travellers wishing to go to Berlin and having arrived in Regensburg thought they had already reached their destination when in truth they had only completed one leg of their journey. Every researcher who took part in this publication, chose, as much as possible, to push the boundaries of their subject and, starting from a different premise, enlighten readers on aspects of Byzantine science that were until now little known or even shunned.
Now that I have almost reached my own destination as editor of this volume, I would like to thank first of all the many colleagues who trusted me in this adventure: Fabio Acerbi, Anne-Laurence Caudano, Gonzalo Andreotti Cruz, Katerina Ierodiakonou, Hervé Inglebert, Divna Manolova, Maria K. Papathanassiou, Inmaculada Pérez Martín, Thomas Salmon, Ioannis Telelis, Alain Touwaide, Arnaud Zucker. I would also like to express my gratitude to Anne Tihon, who agreed to write the conclusion of this volume. I wish to thank very warmly Antonio Ricciardetto, who drafted this volume’s indices, as well as Julien Cahour and Romain Girardi for their excellent work in the preparation of the bibliography.
I also wish to acknowledge the work of Barrie Bullen and Alexandre Mitchell, our two insightful and astute readers who removed many linguistic imperfections. Many thanks to Brill and especially to the scientific editor of this collection, Prof. Wolfram Brandes for accepting to promote this book.
Finally, all my gratitude goes to my wife whose tireless support was a constant encouragement and a precious help, a haven of patience that gave me the necessary strength to reach the end of this editorial and scientific enterprise.