[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.76,0:00:03.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On January 26, 2013,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.48,0:00:06.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a band of al-Qaeda militants\Nentered the ancient city of Timbuktu
Dialogue: 0,0:00:07.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.64,0:00:14.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There, they set fire to a medieval library\Nof 30,000 manuscripts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.28,0:00:17.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written in Arabic\Nand several African languages
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.08,0:00:22.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ranging in subject from astronomy\Nto geography, history to medicine,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.84,0:00:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including one book which records
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.56,0:00:28.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps the first treatment\Nfor male erectile dysfunction.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.76,0:00:31.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unknown in the West,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.08,0:00:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this was the collected wisdom\Nof an entire continent,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.52,0:00:38.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the voice of Africa at a time when Africa\Nwas thought not to have a voice at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.48,0:00:41.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The mayor of Bamako,\Nwho witnessed the event,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.00,0:00:43.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called the burning of the manuscripts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.96,0:00:46.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"a crime against world cultural heritage."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.88,0:00:48.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he was right --
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.44,0:00:51.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or he would have been, if it weren't\Nfor the fact that he was also lying.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.56,0:00:55.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, just before,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.32,0:00:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,African scholars had collected\Na random assortment of old books
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.48,0:01:01.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and left them out\Nfor the terrorists to burn.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.00,0:01:04.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, the collection\Nlies hidden in Bamako,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.96,0:01:06.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the capital of Mali,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.36,0:01:08.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moldering in the high humidity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.48,0:01:10.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was rescued by ruse
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.36,0:01:12.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is now once again in jeopardy,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.12,0:01:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this time by climate.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.20,0:01:16.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Africa, and the far-flung\Ncorners of the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.64,0:01:18.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are not the only places,\Nor even the main places
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.96,0:01:23.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which manuscripts that could change\Nthe history of world culture
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.28,0:01:24.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are in jeopardy.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.92,0:01:30.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Several years ago, I conducted\Na survey of European research libraries
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.68,0:01:32.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and discovered that,\Nat the barest minimum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.96,0:01:36.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are 60,000 manuscripts
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.20,0:01:37.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pre-1500
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.84,0:01:40.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are illegible\Nbecause of water damage,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.80,0:01:44.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fading, mold and chemical reagents.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.80,0:01:47.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The real number is likely double that,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.80,0:01:49.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that doesn't even count
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.00,0:01:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Renaissance manuscripts\Nand modern manuscripts
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.64,0:01:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and cultural heritage\Nobjects such as maps.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.96,0:02:00.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if there were a technology
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.44,0:02:05.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could recover\Nthese lost and unknown works?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.80,0:02:10.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine worldwide\Nhow a trove of hundreds of thousands
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.24,0:02:13.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of previously unknown texts
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.20,0:02:16.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could radically transform\Nour knowledge of the past.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.28,0:02:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine what unknown classics\Nwe would discover
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.32,0:02:25.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which would rewrite the canons\Nof literature, history,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.68,0:02:27.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,philosophy, music --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.84,0:02:31.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, more provocatively, that could\Nrewrite our cultural identities,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.40,0:02:34.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,building new bridges\Nbetween people and culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.52,0:02:38.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are the questions\Nthat transformed me
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.08,0:02:40.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a medieval scholar,\Na reader of texts,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.92,0:02:42.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a textual scientist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.12,0:02:46.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What an unsatisfying word "reader" is.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.44,0:02:49.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it conjures up\Nimages of passivity,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.04,0:02:51.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of someone sitting idly in an armchair
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.48,0:02:53.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,waiting for knowledge to come to him
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.80,0:02:55.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a neat little parcel.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.52,0:02:58.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much better to be\Na participant in the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.56,0:03:01.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an adventurer in an undiscovered country,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.76,0:03:04.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,searching for the hidden text.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.36,0:03:07.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As an academic, I was a mere reader.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.56,0:03:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I read and taught the same classics
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.00,0:03:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that people had been reading\Nand teaching for hundreds of years --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.16,0:03:17.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Virgil, Ovid, Chaucer, Petrarch --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.20,0:03:19.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with every scholarly article\Nthat I published
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.56,0:03:22.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I added to human knowledge\Nin ever-diminishing slivers of insight.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.76,0:03:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I wanted to be
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.36,0:03:28.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was an archaeologist of the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.48,0:03:30.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a discoverer of literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.08,0:03:31.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an Indiana Jones without the whip --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.00,0:03:33.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or, actually, with the whip.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.52,0:03:34.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.76,0:03:38.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I wanted it not just for myself\Nbut I wanted it for my students as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.48,0:03:42.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so six years ago,\NI changed the direction of my career.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.40,0:03:45.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the time, I was working\Non "The Chess of Love,"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.44,0:03:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the last important long poem\Nof the European Middle Ages
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.32,0:03:49.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,never to have been edited.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.96,0:03:52.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it wasn't edited because\Nit existed in only one manuscript
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.00,0:03:56.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was so badly damaged\Nduring the firebombing of Dresden
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.28,0:03:57.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in World War II
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.52,0:04:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that generations of scholars\Nhad pronounced it lost.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.40,0:04:04.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For five years, I had been working\Nwith an ultraviolet lamp
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.88,0:04:06.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to recover traces of the writing
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.80,0:04:09.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'd gone about as far\Nas technology at the time
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.24,0:04:10.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could actually take me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.64,0:04:12.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so I did what many people do.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.76,0:04:14.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went online,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.80,0:04:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there I learned about
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.56,0:04:21.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how multispectral imaging had been used\Nto recover two lost treatises
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.16,0:04:24.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the famed Greek\Nmathematician Archimedes
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.08,0:04:25.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a 13th-century palimpsest.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.64,0:04:28.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A palimpsest is a manuscript\Nwhich has been erased and overwritten.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.20,0:04:31.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, out of the blue,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.48,0:04:34.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I decided to write\Nto the lead imaging scientist
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.56,0:04:36.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the Archimedes palimpsest project,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.80,0:04:38.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Professor Roger Easton,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.32,0:04:40.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a plan and a plea.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.16,0:04:42.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And to my surprise,\Nhe actually wrote back.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.00,0:04:47.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With his help, I was able\Nto win a grant from the US government
Dialogue: 0,0:04:47.68,0:04:51.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build a transportable,\Nmultispectral imaging lab,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.72,0:04:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And with this lab, I transformed\Nwhat was a charred and faded mess
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.56,0:04:58.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a new medieval classic.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.36,0:05:02.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So how does multispectral\Nimaging actually work?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.16,0:05:04.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the idea\Nbehind multispectral imaging
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.64,0:05:08.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is something that anyone who is familiar\Nwith infrared night vision goggles
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.96,0:05:10.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will immediately appreciate:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.36,0:05:12.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that what we can see\Nin the visible spectrum of light
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.88,0:05:15.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is only a tiny fraction\Nof what's actually there.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:15.72,0:05:17.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is true with invisible writing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.28,0:05:23.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our system uses 12 wavelengths of light
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.48,0:05:25.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between the ultraviolet and the infrared,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.00,0:05:29.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and these are shown down\Nonto the manuscript from above
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.08,0:05:30.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from banks of LEDs,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.72,0:05:32.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and another multispectral light source
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.60,0:05:35.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which comes up through\Nthe individual leaves of the manuscript.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.58,0:05:40.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Up to 35 images per sequence\Nper leaf are imaged this way
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.12,0:05:42.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using a high-powered digital camera\Nequipped with a lens
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.76,0:05:44.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is made out of quartz.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.76,0:05:46.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are about five\Nof these in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.88,0:05:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And once we capture these images,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.72,0:05:50.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we feed them through\Nstatistical algorithms
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.80,0:05:53.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to further enhance and clarify them,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.32,0:05:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using software which was originally\Ndesigned for satellite images
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.72,0:06:00.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and used by people\Nlike geospatial scientists
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.12,0:06:01.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the CIA.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.04,0:06:04.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The results can be spectacular.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.36,0:06:06.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may already have heard\Nof what's been done
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.56,0:06:07.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.96,0:06:09.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which are slowly gelatinizing.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.48,0:06:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Using infrared, we've been able\Nto read even the darkest corners
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.16,0:06:15.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.88,0:06:18.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may not be aware, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.36,0:06:21.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of other Biblical texts\Nthat are in jeopardy.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.12,0:06:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here, for example,\Nis a leaf from a manuscript
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.56,0:06:26.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we imaged,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.36,0:06:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is perhaps the most valuable\NChristian Bible in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.88,0:06:36.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Codex Vercellensis is the oldest\Ntranslation of the Gospels into Latin,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.68,0:06:39.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it dates from the first half\Nof the fourth century.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.56,0:06:42.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the closest we can come
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.84,0:06:46.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the Bible at the time\Nof the foundation of Christendom
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.80,0:06:48.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,under Emperor Constantine,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.44,0:06:50.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at the time also\Nof the Council of Nicaea,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.00,0:06:54.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the basic creed of Christianity\Nwas being agreed upon.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.52,0:06:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This manuscript, unfortunately,\Nhas been very badly damaged,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.80,0:07:00.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it's damaged because for centuries
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.04,0:07:02.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it had been used and handled
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.52,0:07:05.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in swearing in ceremonies in the church.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.24,0:07:09.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, that purple splotch\Nthat you see in the upper left hand corner
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.92,0:07:14.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is Aspergillus, which is a fungus
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.24,0:07:17.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which originates in the unwashed hands
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.80,0:07:19.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a person with tuberculosis.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.64,0:07:23.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our imaging has enabled me\Nto make the first transcription
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.72,0:07:26.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of this manuscript in 250 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.80,0:07:31.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having a lab that can travel\Nto collections where it's needed, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.28,0:07:32.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is only part of the solution.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.48,0:07:36.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The technology is expensive and very rare,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:36.36,0:07:39.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the imaging and image\Nprocessing skills are esoteric.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.60,0:07:41.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That means that mounting recoveries
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.32,0:07:46.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is beyond the reach of most researchers\Nand all but the wealthiest institutions.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.24,0:07:49.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's why I founded the Lazarus Project,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.04,0:07:50.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a not-for-profit initiative
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.72,0:07:54.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to bring multispectral imaging\Nto individual researchers
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.72,0:07:58.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and smaller institutions\Nat little or no cost whatsoever.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.56,0:08:01.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the past five years,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.20,0:08:05.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our team of imaging scientists,\Nscholars and students
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.08,0:08:07.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has travelled to seven different countries
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.28,0:08:11.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and have recovered some of the world's\Nmost valuable damaged manuscripts,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.16,0:08:14.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,included the Vercelli Book,\Nwhich is the oldest book of English,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.18,0:08:16.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Black Book of Carmarthen,\Nthe oldest book of Welsh,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.82,0:08:20.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and some of the most valuable\Nearliest Gospels
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.32,0:08:23.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,located in what is now\Nthe former Soviet Georgia.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.60,0:08:27.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, spectral imaging\Ncan recover lost texts.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.36,0:08:33.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More subtly, though, it can recover\Na second story behind every object,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.48,0:08:38.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the story of how, when\Nand by whom a text was created,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.20,0:08:41.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, sometimes, what the author\Nwas thinking at the time he wrote.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:42.60,0:08:45.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take, for example, a draft\Nof the Declaration of Independence
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.72,0:08:48.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written in Thomas Jefferson's own hand,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.16,0:08:50.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which some colleagues of mine\Nimaged a few years ago
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.61,0:08:51.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the Library of Congress.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.36,0:08:55.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Curators had noticed\Nthat one word throughout
Dialogue: 0,0:08:55.08,0:08:57.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had been scratched out and overwritten.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.48,0:08:59.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The word overwritten was "citizens."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:00.24,0:09:02.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps you can guess\Nwhat the word underneath was.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.96,0:09:05.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Subjects."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.40,0:09:08.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There, ladies and gentlemen,\Nis American democracy
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.24,0:09:10.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,evolving under the hand\Nof Thomas Jefferson.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.36,0:09:15.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or consider the 1491 Martellus Map,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.24,0:09:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which we imaged\Nat Yale's Beinecke Library.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.60,0:09:20.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the map\Nthat Columbus likely consulted
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.08,0:09:21.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before he traveled to the New World
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.80,0:09:24.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and which gave him his idea\Nof what Asia looked like
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.56,0:09:26.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and where Japan was located.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:27.64,0:09:30.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem with this map\Nis that its inks and pigments
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.68,0:09:32.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had so degraded over time
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.80,0:09:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this large, nearly seven-foot map,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:34.96,0:09:37.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made the world look like a giant desert.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.52,0:09:41.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Until now, we had very little idea,\Ndetailed idea, that is,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.16,0:09:42.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what Columbus knew of the world
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.84,0:09:44.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how world cultures were represented.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.24,0:09:49.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The main legend of the map\Nwas entirely illegible under normal light.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:49.40,0:09:51.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ultraviolet did very little for it.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.68,0:09:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Multispectral gave us everything.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:54.64,0:09:58.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Asia, we learned of monsters\Nwith ears so long
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.24,0:10:00.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they could cover\Nthe creature's entire body.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.04,0:10:05.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Africa, about a snake\Nwho could cause the ground to smoke.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.68,0:10:08.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like starlight, which can convey images
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.96,0:10:11.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the way the Universe\Nlooked in the distant past,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.56,0:10:15.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so multispectral light can take us back\Nto the first stuttering moments
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.48,0:10:16.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of an object's creation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:17.48,0:10:21.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through this lens, we witness\Nthe mistakes, the changes of mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:21.44,0:10:24.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the naïvetés, the uncensored thoughts,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.36,0:10:26.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the imperfections of the human imagination
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.60,0:10:29.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that allow these hallowed objects\Nand their authors
Dialogue: 0,0:10:29.44,0:10:31.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to become more real,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:31.12,0:10:33.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that make history closer to us.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:34.76,0:10:36.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What about the future?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.48,0:10:38.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's so much of the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.68,0:10:41.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so few people\Nwith the skills to rescue it
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.92,0:10:45.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before these objects disappear forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.48,0:10:49.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's why I have begun to teach\Nthis new hybrid discipline
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.80,0:10:51.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I call "textual science."
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.72,0:10:53.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Textual science is a marriage
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.36,0:10:55.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the traditional skills\Nof a literary scholar --
Dialogue: 0,0:10:55.76,0:10:58.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ability to read old languages\Nand old handwriting,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.32,0:11:00.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the knowledge of how texts are made
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.04,0:11:02.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to be able\Nto place and date them --
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.20,0:11:04.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with new techniques like imaging science,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.96,0:11:07.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the chemistry of inks and pigments,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:07.56,0:11:09.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,computer-aided optical\Ncharacter recognition.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.16,0:11:13.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Last year, a student in my class,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.36,0:11:14.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a freshman,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.60,0:11:16.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with a background in Latin and Greek,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.44,0:11:18.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was image-processing a palimpsest
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.80,0:11:21.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we had photographed\Nat a famous library in Rome.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.24,0:11:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As he worked, tiny Greek writing\Nbegan to appear from behind the text.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:28.20,0:11:29.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone gathered around,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.72,0:11:32.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he read a line from a lost work
Dialogue: 0,0:11:32.40,0:11:34.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the Greek comic dramatist Menander.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.76,0:11:38.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the first time\Nin well over a thousand years
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.48,0:11:41.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that those words\Nhad been pronounced aloud.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.88,0:11:44.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In that moment, he became a scholar.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.44,0:11:48.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ladies and gentlemen,\Nthat is the future of the past.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:48.84,0:11:50.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.08,0:11:53.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)