Abstract

Federico Commandino’s Latin editions of the mathematical works written by the ancient Greeks constituted an essential reference for the scientific research undertaken by the moderns. In his Latin editions, Commandino cleverly combined his philological and mathematical skills. Philology and mathematics, moreover, nurtured each other. In this article, I analyze the Greek and Latin manuscripts and the printed edition of Apollonius’ Conics to highlight in a specific case study the role of the editions of the classics in the renaissance of modern mathematics.