Marshall Clagett, 89, scholar on Archimedes

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Marshall Clagett, one of the world's preeminent historians on medieval science and the work of mathematician Archimedes, died Oct. 21. He was 89 and lived in Princeton.

Dr. Clagett's death was announced by the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he worked for the last four decades.

He became a faculty member at the institute in 1964. Although he officially retired in 1986, he retained an honorary professor's title and continued to publish and work on research until his death.

Dr. Clagett wrote extensively about the Greek mathematician Archimedes, publishing a five-volume work, ''Archimedes in the Middle Ages," over a period of 20 years.

In his most recent work about science in ancient Egypt, Dr. Clagett used computers to interpret hieroglyphics. At the time of his death, he was completing the fourth and final volume of a work titled ''Ancient Egyptian Science."

''His influential body of work has had an indelible impact on the history of medieval science, and the depth and clarity of his scholarship has enlightened our understanding of subject areas as diverse as medieval physics and Egyptology," Peter Goddard, the institute's director, said in a statement.

Although the institute is located in Princeton, it is not affiliated with Princeton University.

Dr. Clagett was born in Washington in 1916. He studied at the California Institute of Technology and at George Washington University, and in 1941, received his doctorate in history from Columbia University. From that year until 1946, he served in the Navy, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander.

He then returned to Columbia as an instructor in history and the history of science.

He also taught at the University of Wisconsin before joining the Institute for Advanced Study.