Published
A library can be lost without going anywhere
A library can be lost without going anywhere.
Some Herculaneum scrolls survived Vesuvius as carbonized rolls too fragile to open.
X-ray scans and AI helped reveal ink inside; scholars read the recovered writing. One early passage considers whether scarce food gives more pleasure than plentiful food.
Some lost knowledge is still physically here. We needed another way to reach it.
Sources
- Exhibition Explores the Villa dei Papiri, Inspiration for the Getty Villa ↗Getty News · 2019
- Buried by Vesuvius: Treasures from the Villa dei Papiri ↗J. Paul Getty Museum · 2019
- From invisibility to readability: Recovering the ink of Herculaneum ↗PLOS ONE · 2019
- First word discovered in unopened Herculaneum scroll by 21yo computer science student ↗Vesuvius Challenge · 2023
- Vesuvius Challenge 2023 Grand Prize awarded: we can read the first scroll! ↗Vesuvius Challenge · 2024