[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.29,0:00:13.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On January 26th, 2013,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.95,0:00:17.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a band of al-Qaeda militants\Nentered the ancient city of Timbuktu
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.51,0:00:20.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.26,0:00:25.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There they set fire to a medieval library\Nof 30,000 manuscripts
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.77,0:00:29.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written in Arabic\Nand several African languages,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.05,0:00:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ranging in subjects\Nfrom astronomy to geography,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.04,0:00:34.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,history to medicine,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.79,0:00:36.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including one book which records
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.53,0:00:40.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perhaps the first treatment\Nfor male erectile dysfunction.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.81,0:00:43.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unknown in the West,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.72,0:00:47.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this was the collected wisdom\Nof an entire continent,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.05,0:00:52.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the voice of Africa at a time when Africa\Nwas thought not to have a voice at all.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.51,0:00:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Mayor of Bamako,\Nwho witnessed the event,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.22,0:01:00.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called the burning of the manuscripts\Na crime against world cultural heritage.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.01,0:01:02.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he was right, or he would have been,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.28,0:01:04.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if it weren't for the fact\Nthat he was also lying.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.74,0:01:08.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, just before,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.57,0:01:12.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,African scholars had collected\Na random assortment of old books
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.54,0:01:15.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and left them out\Nfor the terrorists to burn.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.24,0:01:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Today, the collection lies hidden\Nin Bamako, the capital of Mali,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.51,0:01:22.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,moldering in the high humidity.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.19,0:01:25.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What was rescued by ruse\Nis now was once again in jeopardy,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.77,0:01:27.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this time by climate.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.77,0:01:31.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But Africa and the far-flung corners\Nof the world are not the only places,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.26,0:01:32.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even the main places,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.50,0:01:36.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which manuscripts that could change\Nthe history of world culture
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.98,0:01:38.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are in jeopardy.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.48,0:01:40.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Several years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.36,0:01:44.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I conducted a survey\Nof European research libraries,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.05,0:01:46.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and discovered that,\Nat the barest minimum,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.31,0:01:52.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there are 30,000,\Nactually 60,000 manuscripts pre-1500
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.78,0:01:54.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are illegible
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.56,0:02:00.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of water damage, fading,\Nmold, and chemical reagents.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.42,0:02:03.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The real number is likely double that.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.03,0:02:06.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That doesn't even count\Nrenaissance manuscripts,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.52,0:02:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and modern manuscripts,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.04,0:02:11.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and cultural heritage objects,\Nsuch as maps.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.00,0:02:15.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What if there were a technology
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.77,0:02:20.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that could recover\Nthese lost and unknown works?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.27,0:02:23.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine worldwide how a trove
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.74,0:02:28.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of hundreds of thousands\Nof previously unknown texts
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.54,0:02:31.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could radically transform\Nour knowledge of the past.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.20,0:02:37.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imagine what unknown classics\Nwe would discover
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.13,0:02:42.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which would rewrite the canons\Nof literature, history, philosophy, music.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.27,0:02:46.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or more provocatively, that could rewrite\Nour cultural identities,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.77,0:02:50.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,building new bridges\Nbetween people and culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.88,0:02:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are the questions\Nthat transformed me
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.52,0:02:56.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from a medieval scholar,\Na reader of texts,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.25,0:02:58.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a textual scientist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.25,0:03:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What an unsatisfying word reader is?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.76,0:03:04.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For me, it conjures up\Nimages of passivity,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.02,0:03:06.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of someone sitting idly in an armchair,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.76,0:03:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,waiting for knowledge\Nto come to him in a neat little parcel.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.98,0:03:14.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How much better is to be\Na participant in the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.50,0:03:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an adventurer in an undiscovered country,\Nsearching for the hidden text?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.74,0:03:23.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As an academic, I was a mere reader.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.23,0:03:26.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I read and taught the same classics
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.75,0:03:29.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that people had been reading and teaching\Nfor hundreds of years:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.75,0:03:32.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Virgil, Ovid, Chaucer, Petrarch.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.75,0:03:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With every scholarly article\Nthat I published,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.00,0:03:38.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I added to human knowledge\Nan ever-diminishing slivers of insight.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.90,0:03:43.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What I wanted to be\Nwas an archaeologist of the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.97,0:03:45.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a discoverer of literature,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.80,0:03:49.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an Indiana Jones without the whip -\Nor, actually, with the whip.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.34,0:03:50.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.36,0:03:54.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I wanted it not just for myself,\Nbut I wanted it for my students as well.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.04,0:03:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So six years ago, I changed\Nthe direction of my career.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.98,0:04:00.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the time, I was working\Non "The Chess of Love",
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.100,0:04:03.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the last important long poem\Nof the European Middle Ages,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.80,0:04:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,never to have been edited.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.52,0:04:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It wasn't edited because it existed\Nin only one manuscript,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.52,0:04:10.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which was so badly damaged
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.29,0:04:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,during the firebombing of Dresden\Nin World War II
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.12,0:04:16.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that generations of scholars\Nhad pronounced it lost.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.42,0:04:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For five years, I had been working\Nwith an ultraviolet lamp,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.78,0:04:22.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,trying to recover traces of that writing,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.27,0:04:25.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I'd gone about as far\Nas the technology of that time
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.02,0:04:26.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could actually take me.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.24,0:04:28.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So I did what many people do;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.04,0:04:31.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I went online, and there I learned
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.24,0:04:36.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about how multi-spectral imaging\Nhad been used to recover 2 lost treatises
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.26,0:04:40.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the famed Greek mathematician\NArchimedes from a 13th-century palimpsest.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.80,0:04:44.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A palimpsest is a manuscript\Nwhich has been erased and overwritten.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.53,0:04:48.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, out of the blue, I decided to write
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.02,0:04:52.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the lead imaging scientist\Non the Archimedes Palimpsest Project,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.02,0:04:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Professor Roger Easton,\Nwith a plan and a plea.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.32,0:04:57.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To my surprise, he actually wrote back.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.24,0:05:02.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With his help, I was able to win\Na grant from the US government
Dialogue: 0,0:05:04.50,0:05:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build a transportable\Nmultispectral imaging lab -
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.52,0:05:10.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yes, this is the dirty little secret
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.82,0:05:13.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of where your tax dollars\Nare really going -
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.02,0:05:17.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and with this lab, I transformed\Nwhat was a charred and faded mess
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.80,0:05:20.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into a new medieval classic.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.74,0:05:23.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, how does multispectral imaging\Nactually work?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.54,0:05:25.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The idea behind multispectral imaging
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.75,0:05:27.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that something that anyone
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.59,0:05:30.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who is familiar\Nwith an infrared night-vision goggles
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.16,0:05:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,will immediately appreciate,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.52,0:05:34.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that what we can see invisible light,\Ninvisible spectrum of light,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.63,0:05:37.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is only tiny fraction\Nof what's actually there.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.51,0:05:40.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is true with invisible writing.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:42.50,0:05:48.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our system uses 12 wavelengths of light\Nbetween the ultraviolet and the infrared.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.06,0:05:54.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are shown down onto the manuscript\Nfrom above, from banks of LEDs,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.45,0:05:56.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and another multispectral light source
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.28,0:05:59.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which comes up through\Nthe individual leaves of the manuscript.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.23,0:06:03.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Up to 35 images per leaf\Nare imaged this way,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.96,0:06:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using a high-power digital camera
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.57,0:06:08.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,equipped with a lens\Nwhich is made out of quartz.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.50,0:06:10.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are about 5 of these in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.79,0:06:12.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once we capture these images,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.85,0:06:15.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we feed them\Nthrough statistical algorithms
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.04,0:06:17.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to further enhance and clarify them,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.27,0:06:20.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,using software which is originally\Ndesigned for satellite images,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.50,0:06:25.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and used by people\Nlike geospatial scientists and the CIA.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.97,0:06:28.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The results can be spectacular.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.28,0:06:30.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of you may already have heard
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.31,0:06:32.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what's been done\Nfor the Dead Sea Scrolls,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.98,0:06:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which are slowly gelatinizing.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:35.73,0:06:37.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Using infrared, we've been able to read
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.60,0:06:41.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,even the darkest corners\Nof the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.96,0:06:43.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may not be aware, however,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:43.41,0:06:45.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of other Biblical texts\Nthat are in jeopardy.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.46,0:06:51.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here, for example, is a leaf\Nfrom a manuscript that we imaged,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.52,0:06:56.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is perhaps the most valuable\NChristian Bible in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.33,0:07:03.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Codex Vercellensis is the oldest\Ntranslation of the Gospels into Latin,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.02,0:07:05.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it dates\Nfrom the first half of 4th century.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:07.72,0:07:12.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As you can see, this is the closest\Nwe can come to the Bible
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.52,0:07:17.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the time of the foundation\Nof Christendom under Emperor Constantine,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:17.25,0:07:19.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and at the time\Nof also the Council of Nicaea,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:19.81,0:07:23.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the basic creed of Christianity\Nwas being agreed upon.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:23.47,0:07:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This manuscript, unfortunately,\Nhas been very badly damaged.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.55,0:07:31.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's damaged because for centuries\Nit has been used and handled
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.26,0:07:34.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in swearing-in ceremonies in the church.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.03,0:07:37.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, that purple splotch that you see\Nin the upper right-hand corner
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.36,0:07:41.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- upper left-hand corner.\NRight-hand corner? Yes. -
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.27,0:07:43.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,... is Aspergillus,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.51,0:07:49.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is a fungus which originates\Noriginally in the unwashed hands
Dialogue: 0,0:07:49.75,0:07:51.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a person with tuberculosis.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:52.55,0:07:54.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our imaging has enabled me
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.61,0:07:58.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make the first transcription\Nof this manuscript in 250 years.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.75,0:08:02.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Having a lab that can travel\Nto collections
Dialogue: 0,0:08:02.13,0:08:03.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- to where it's needed, however -
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.86,0:08:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is only part of the solution.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.52,0:08:08.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The technology is expensive and very rare,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.59,0:08:11.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the imaging\Nand image processing skills are esoteric.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.50,0:08:14.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That means that mounting recoveries\Nis beyond the reach
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.75,0:08:18.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of most researchers\Nand all but the wealthiest institutions.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:18.26,0:08:21.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's why I founded the Lazarus Project,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.38,0:08:23.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a non-for-profit initiative
Dialogue: 0,0:08:23.78,0:08:25.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to bring multispectral imaging
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.92,0:08:29.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to individual researchers\Nand smaller institutions
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.92,0:08:31.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at little or no cost whatsoever.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.49,0:08:34.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Over the past five years,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.29,0:08:38.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our team of imaging scientists,\Nscholars, and students
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.02,0:08:40.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has traveled to seven different countries
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.24,0:08:41.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and have recovered
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.53,0:08:44.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some of the world's most valuable\Ndamaged manuscripts,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:44.05,0:08:47.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including the Vercelli Book,\Nwhich is the oldest book of English,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.18,0:08:49.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Black Book of Carmarthen,\Nthe oldest book of Welsh,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.76,0:08:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and some of the most valuable\Nearliest Gospels,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:53.52,0:08:56.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,located in now\Nwhat's the former Soviet Georgia.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.75,0:09:00.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So spectral imaging\Ncan recover lost texts.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:01.48,0:09:06.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More subtly, though, it can recover\Na second story behind every object,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:06.50,0:09:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the story of how, when,\Nand by whom a text was created,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.28,0:09:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and sometimes, what the author\Nwas thinking at the time he wrote.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.73,0:09:18.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Take, for example, a draft\Nof the Declaration of Independence,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:18.68,0:09:21.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,written in Thomas Jefferson's own hand,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.25,0:09:23.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which some colleagues of mine\Nimaged a few years ago
Dialogue: 0,0:09:23.73,0:09:25.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the Library of Congress.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.47,0:09:26.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Curators had noticed
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.76,0:09:30.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that one word throughout\Nhad been scratched out and overwritten.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:30.49,0:09:33.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The word overwritten was "citizens".
Dialogue: 0,0:09:33.25,0:09:36.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps you can guess\Nwhat the word underneath was.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.100,0:09:38.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Subjects".
Dialogue: 0,0:09:38.50,0:09:41.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There, ladies and gentlemen,\Nis American democracy
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.30,0:09:43.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,evolving under the hand\Nof Thomas Jefferson.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.25,0:09:48.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or consider the 1491 Martellus Map,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.25,0:09:50.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which we imaged\Nat Yale's Beinecke Library.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.77,0:09:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the map\Nthat Columbus likely consulted
Dialogue: 0,0:09:53.52,0:09:55.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before he traveled to the New World,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.29,0:09:57.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and which gave him his idea\Nof what Asia looked like
Dialogue: 0,0:09:57.91,0:09:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and where Japan was located.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.22,0:10:02.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem with this map
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.92,0:10:06.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that its inks and pigments\Nhad so degraded over time
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.51,0:10:08.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that this large, nearly 7-foot map
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.50,0:10:12.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made the world look like a giant desert.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.50,0:10:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Until now, we had very little idea,\Ndetailed idea, that is,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.00,0:10:19.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of what Columbus knew of the world\Nand how world cultures were represented.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.26,0:10:24.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The main legend of the map\Nwas entirely illegible under normal light.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.24,0:10:27.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ultraviolet did very little for it.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.26,0:10:29.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Multispectral gave us everything.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.22,0:10:32.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Asia, we learned of monsters
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.28,0:10:35.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with ears so long that they could cover\Nthe creature's entire body.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.49,0:10:41.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Africa, about the snake\Nwho could cause the ground to smoke.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:42.25,0:10:44.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like starlight which can give today
Dialogue: 0,0:10:44.24,0:10:47.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,images of the way the universe\Nlooked in the distant past,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.61,0:10:50.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so multispectral light can take us back
Dialogue: 0,0:10:50.03,0:10:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the first stuttering moments\Nof an object's creation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.50,0:10:57.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Through this lens, we witnessed\Nthe mistakes, the changes of mind,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:57.50,0:11:00.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the naivetes, young censored thoughts,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:00.55,0:11:02.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the imperfections of the human imagination
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.74,0:11:05.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that allowed these hallowed objects\Nand their authors
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.78,0:11:10.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to become more real,\Nthat make history closer to us.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.74,0:11:15.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what about the future?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:15.53,0:11:17.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's so much of the past
Dialogue: 0,0:11:17.78,0:11:21.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so few people\Nwith the skills to rescue it
Dialogue: 0,0:11:21.05,0:11:24.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before these objects disappear forever.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.54,0:11:29.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's why I've begun to teach\Nthis new hybrid discipline
Dialogue: 0,0:11:29.20,0:11:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that I call textual science,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.98,0:11:35.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a mixture between\Nkind of Indiana Jones meets CSI.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:36.70,0:11:39.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Textual science is a marriage
Dialogue: 0,0:11:39.00,0:11:41.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the traditional skills\Nof the literary scholar -
Dialogue: 0,0:11:41.47,0:11:44.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ability to read old languages\Nand old handwriting,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:44.14,0:11:45.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the knowledge how texts are made
Dialogue: 0,0:11:45.69,0:11:47.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to be able\Nto place and date them -
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.90,0:11:50.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with new techniques like imaging science,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:50.32,0:11:52.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the chemistry of inks and pigments,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.76,0:11:55.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,computer-aided optical\Ncharacter recognition.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:56.43,0:11:59.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Last year, a student in my class,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.03,0:12:01.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a freshman with the background\Nin Latin and Greek
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.74,0:12:03.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was image-processing a palimpsest
Dialogue: 0,0:12:03.77,0:12:07.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we had photographed\Nat the famous library in Rome.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:07.74,0:12:12.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As he worked, tiny Greek writing\Nbegan to appear from behind the text.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:13.71,0:12:15.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everyone gathered around,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.07,0:12:20.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he read a line from a lost work\Nof the Greek comic dramatist Menander.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:21.24,0:12:24.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was the first time\Nin well over a thousand years
Dialogue: 0,0:12:24.24,0:12:27.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that those words\Nhad been pronounced aloud.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:27.96,0:12:30.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In that moment, he became a scholar.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.39,0:12:34.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ladies and gentlemen,\Nthat is the future of the past.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.50,0:12:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you very much.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:35.52,0:12:37.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)