The Voynich Manuscript
So how is it, that I've been into cryptography and languages for ALL OF THESE YEARS, and yet this WEEK is the first time I've EVER heard of the Voynich manuscript???
For those who who don't know (like me before this week): apparently a bookseller named Wilfrid M. Voynich procured a book in the early 1900s that seems to have been written between the 1400s and 1600s, in an unknown language, in an unknown script, full of illustrations and fold-outs. Apparently there are a myriad of theories as to exactly what this is (people have been quick to slap "it's a fake" on it, despite the fact that carbon dating places this around the 1400s; people guess the text is a cypher judging from the repeated words, etc.).
I admit, it IS fascinating, but after all of this time, not one person can break the code. I have no idea where to even begin!
A link to the manuscript can be found here on archive.org.
More in-depth analysis can be found on this rather comprehensive site.
Well there goes MY weekend. :: laugh ::