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Science 9 December 2005:
Vol. 310. no. 5754, p. 1618
DOI: 10.1126/science.1117462
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Technical Comments

Comment on "How Science Survived: Medieval Manuscripts' `Demography' and Classic Texts' Extinction"

Georges Declercq

Exciting though it may seem, the mathematical model developed by Cisne (Reports, 25 February 2005, p. 1305) to analyze the transmission of texts and manuscripts from Antiquity and the Middle Ages does not hold up to scrutiny. It seriously underestimates the losses, thus leading to conclusions that are unwarranted.

Department of History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels, B-1050, Belgium. E-mail: georges.declercq{at}vub.ac.be

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)