Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript, named for its discoverer, book collector Wilfrid M. Voynich[?], is an illustrated book written in an unknown alphabet in an unknown language sometimes dubbed "Voynichese", assuming that it is a language at all - this being still an open question. Statistical analysis[?] indicates patterns similar to actual languages, such as Zipf's law, possibly indicating that it is meaningful. For instance, in the botany section, the first word on each page occurs only on that page, and may be the name of the plant. It was apparently written by two authors who used different dialects or spelling conventions.

The manuscript, when it was found, contained a letter dated 1666, from Johannes Marcus Marci[?] of Cronland[?], addressed to Athanasius Kircher. The letter mentions Roger Bacon as a possible author, though there is no apparent evidence to support this claim.

Some claim the manuscript is a hoax. The question for them is, if it is a hoax, was it faked by Voynich in the 20th century, or by Edward Kelley, the 16th century forger who befriended Queen Elizabeth I's adviser John Dee, or anyone else in between?

Some claim that the fact that some of the drawings appear to have required a microscope and others a telescope, long before either were invented, mandates the involvement of extraterrestrials.

Others see these factors as further cause for suspicion regarding the manuscript's authenticity.

External links

• A site on the Voynich Manuscript (http://www.voynich.nu/index)
• Voynich Manuscript web directory at Google (http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Anomalies_and_Alternative_Science/Voynich_Manuscript/)