Herculaneum Scrolls

Encased in ash, victim of Vesuvius, now legible!

I plan to do a future Good Thing on innovation prizes and how they are a clever way to solve problems and advance culture.

But today, let’s focus on one specific prize and what benefits modern life has thanks to its very good winners and winning product.

The Vesuvius Challenge, or this stage of it, was created to unlock the secrets hidden within the Herculaneum Papyri, scrolls that were tragically buried by Vesuvius' eruption in 79 AD. You see, when Vesuvius erupted twenty meters of hot mud and ash buried an enormous villa once owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Inside, there was a vast library of papyrus scrolls. These scrolls were carbonized by the heat of the volcanic debris, but also preserved. Kinda like Han Solo in carbonate.

Just ten months ago, before the prize was presented, they were only known in this form:

Photograph: Digital Restoration Initiative, University of Kentucky

But the Vesuvius Challenge was met! Through science and skill, we have taken those chunks of carbon and rendered them into legible text. Into insights of the thought and philosophy of a long-lost cuture.

Specifically, the scrolls turn out to be thoughts on music, food, and the art of living. That may sound trite, but it’s not. It is a window into an entire vanished world, filled with insights on values and culture.

Learning more about the past is wonderful. Innovation Prizes are powerful. This is all good.

More goodness after the break: