Thu Jan 9 10:34:44 1997

From owner-tc-list  Thu Jan  9 10:34:44 1997
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 10:31:14 -0500 (EST)
From: "James R. Adair" 
To: tc-list@scholar.cc.emory.edu
Subject: Re: Ms half-lives
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Tim's discussion of ms half-lives is interesting and thought-provoking, 
though I think some caveats must be kept in mind.  The radioactive decay 
analogy works only to the extent that conditions of ms destruction remain 
constant over time.  So, for example, rampant destruction of mss during a 
persecution would skew the data, as would changes in technology (shift 
from uncial to minuscule script, introduction of paper, invention of 
printing).  If these factors can be taken into consideration, however, I 
would think that the assumption of a more or less constant rate of ms 
destruction between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries might be 
valid.  What kind of boundaries did you have in mind, Tim?

Jimmy Adair
Manager of Information Technology Services, Scholars Press
    and
Managing Editor of TELA, the Scholars Press World Wide Web Site
---------------> http://scholar.cc.emory.edu <-----------------

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