Athanasius Kircher was the 17th century's Jesuit version of the übergeek. His scholarly attentions were drawn to egyptology, astronomy, magnetism, languages, optics, music, geology, mathematics and many many other pursuits. The "dude of wonders" invented novel machines such as the mathematical organ and magnetic clock, established one of the first museums, published about 40 academic works (with beautiful accompanying illustrations) and was globally revered as one of his time's greatest intellectuals. He is also the main link in the Voynich manuscript mystery. [MI]
posted by peacay on Aug 7, 2005 - 12 comments

Voynich manuscript detemined to be a hoax ... maybe? Discussed here previously, this cryptic document has been intriguing researchers worldwide. In December scientists determined that the text could have been produced using a Cardan Grille and look to known prankster and alchemist Edward Kelley as the likely agent of this deception. But the question still remains, is it encoded gibberish, or encoded something else?
posted by jessamyn on Feb 16, 2004 - 11 comments

The most mysterious manuscript in the world. The Voynich Manuscript is 235 page manuscript written in a cipher that has yet to be decoded. The manuscript includes many images. Almost all pages of the manuscript are available online. There have also been several books (1,2)written claiming to solve the manuscript. You can also follow the modern day progress of deciphering the Voynich manuscript.
posted by patrickje on Jan 15, 2003 - 35 comments