The Friar and the Cipher: Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World.THE FRIAR friar [Lat. frater=brother], member of certain Roman Catholic religious orders, notably, the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. Although a general form of address in the New Testament, since the 13th cent. AND THE CIPHER cipher: see cryptography. (1) The core algorithm used to encrypt data. A cipher transforms regular data (plaintext) into a coded set of data (ciphertext) that is not reversible without a key. : Roger Bacon and the Unsolved Mystery of the Most Unusual Manuscript in the World LAWRENCE AND NANCY GOLDSTONE gold·stone n. An aventurine with gold-colored inclusions. Noun 1. goldstone - aventurine spangled densely with fine gold-colored particles Discovered in Italy in 1912, the mysterious Voynich manuscript appeared to be a 13th-century encyclopedia encyclopedia, compendium of knowledge, either general (attempting to cover all fields) or specialized (aiming to be comprehensive in a particular field). Encyclopedias and Other Reference Books of natural science, written in obscure code. Many questions surrounded the oddly illustrated work, named for discoverer William Voynich, as cryptologists around the world worked to find a key. They did so within a decade and suggested that the manuscript was written by the English scientist-philosopher Roger Bacon in the mid-1200s. In this fascinating book, the Goldstones explore Bacon's personal history and scientific work leading to the creation of the manuscript as well as the evolution of logic and scholasticism scholasticism (skōlăs`tĭsĭzəm), philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. Virtually all medieval philosophers of any significance were theologians, and their philosophy is generally embodied in their in 13th-century Europe, a period marked by early scientific explorations and outreach to the world beyond Christian Europe. The authors explain how the great thinkers of the time reconciled early scientific exploration with the teachings of both Aristotle and their religions. Part mystery story, part historical text, this book is an engaging look at the lengths to which early scientists and philosophers went to express their views. Doubleday, 2005, 335 p., color plates and b&w illus., hardcover, $26.00. |
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