a band of al-Qaeda militants entered the ancient city of Timbuktu

2013 年 1 月 26 日，

on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

蓋達組織武裝部隊進入 古城廷布克圖，

There, they set fire to a medieval library of 30,000 manuscripts

此城位於撒哈拉沙漠南緣。

written in Arabic and several African languages

他們放火燒了一座中世紀的圖書館， 當中有三萬份手稿

and ranging in subject from astronomy to geography, history to medicine,

全由阿拉伯文 以及幾種非洲語言撰寫而成，

including one book which records

題材遍及天文學、 地理學、歷史和醫學，

perhaps the first treatment for male erectile dysfunction.

其中一本書記載的

Unknown in the West,

可能是第一筆 治療男性勃起障礙的處方。

this was the collected wisdom of an entire continent,

西方人有所不知，

the voice of Africa at a time when Africa was thought not to have a voice at all.

這可是整塊非洲大陸的智慧結晶，

The mayor of Bamako, who witnessed the event,

是非洲在大家認為無聲的時期 所發出的聲音。

called the burning of the manuscripts

巴馬科市長目睹此事，

"a crime against world cultural heritage."

稱這起火燒手稿事件為

And he was right --

「破壞世界文化遺產之罪」。

or he would have been, if it weren't for the fact that he was also lying.

他說的對，

In fact, just before,

應該說，要不是他說了謊， 不然他說的就對。

African scholars had collected a random assortment of old books

事實上，在那之前，

and left them out for the terrorists to burn.

非洲學者已經事先取出幾類古書，

Today, the collection lies hidden in Bamako,

避免這些書被恐怖分子燒毀。

the capital of Mali,

今天，這套書藏在巴馬科，

moldering in the high humidity.

馬利的首都，

What was rescued by ruse

因為溼度太重而逐漸腐壞。

is now once again in jeopardy,

之前千方百計拯救的東西，

this time by climate.

現在又再次陷入危機，

But Africa, and the far-flung corners of the world,

這次是受到氣候威脅。

are not the only places, or even the main places

但非洲和那些遠在天邊的世界角落

in which manuscripts that could change the history of world culture

不是唯一，甚至不是主要

are in jeopardy.

讓那些改變世界文明歷史的手稿

Several years ago, I conducted a survey of European research libraries

陷入險境的地方。

and discovered that, at the barest minimum,

幾年前， 我對歐洲研究圖書館做調查，

there are 60,000 manuscripts

發現保守估計至少

pre-1500

有六萬份史前 1500 年的手稿

that are illegible because of water damage,

變得難以閱讀，因為受到水害、

fading, mold and chemical reagents.

褪色、黴菌和化學試劑影響。

The real number is likely double that,

實際數字可能是兩倍，

and that doesn't even count

而且還不把

Renaissance manuscripts and modern manuscripts

文藝復興時期和近代的手稿，

and cultural heritage objects such as maps.

還有文化遺產文物， 像是地圖算進來。

What if there were a technology

要是有科技

that could recover these lost and unknown works?

能復原這些失去且不知名的文物， 該有多好？

Imagine worldwide how a trove of hundreds of thousands

想像全世界 百萬件珍貴文物中的一件，

of previously unknown texts

以目前無人知曉的古文記載，

could radically transform our knowledge of the past.

是怎麼徹底顛覆 我們對過去的認識。

Imagine what unknown classics we would discover

想像我們可能找到的經典文物，

which would rewrite the canons of literature, history,

可能改寫文學、歷史、

philosophy, music --

哲學和音樂的經典，

or, more provocatively, that could rewrite our cultural identities,

或是更誇張點， 可能改寫我們的文化認同，

building new bridges between people and culture.

建立人類和文化之間的新橋梁。

These are the questions that transformed me

這些問題改變了我，

from a medieval scholar, a reader of texts,

讓我從中古世紀學者、文字讀者，

into a textual scientist.

轉變為文本科學家。

What an unsatisfying word "reader" is.

讓人不滿意的是「讀者」這兩個字。

For me, it conjures up images of passivity,

這讓我腦海浮現一種被動的樣貌，

of someone sitting idly in an armchair

就像某人呆坐在沙發椅上，

waiting for knowledge to come to him

等著知識裝在精巧的包裝裡送上門。

in a neat little parcel.

要是能成為過去的參與者 就好多了，

How much better to be a participant in the past,

當一個探險家，前往無人發掘之境

an adventurer in an undiscovered country,

尋找隱藏的文字。

searching for the hidden text.

身為學者，我只是個讀者。

As an academic, I was a mere reader.

我閱讀、教導的經典

I read and taught the same classics

是千百年來 人們一直在閱讀和教導的經典，

that people had been reading and teaching for hundreds of years --

像是維吉爾、奧維德、 喬叟、佩特拉克，

Virgil, Ovid, Chaucer, Petrarch --

我發表的每一篇學術文章，

and with every scholarly article that I published

都只是在人類知識加上一筆 會永遠消逝的見解。

I added to human knowledge in ever-diminishing slivers of insight.

我想成為的

What I wanted to be

是過去的考古學家、

was an archaeologist of the past,

文學的發現者、

a discoverer of literature,

沒有鞭子的印第安納．瓊斯，

an Indiana Jones without the whip --

其實有鞭子也不錯。

or, actually, with the whip.

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

不只是為了我自己， 也是為了我的學生。

And I wanted it not just for myself but I wanted it for my students as well.

因此六年前，我轉行了。

And so six years ago, I changed the direction of my career.

那時候我在編輯《棋之愛》，

At the time, I was working on "The Chess of Love,"

最新發現的歐洲中古世紀長詩，

the last important long poem of the European Middle Ages

從未編輯過。

never to have been edited.

沒人編是因為它只存在一份手稿中，

And it wasn't edited because it existed in only one manuscript

這稿在二戰炮轟德勒斯登時 被嚴重損毀，

which was so badly damaged during the firebombing of Dresden

世代學者都聲稱稿已經不見了。

in World War II

五年來，我一直靠著一盞紫外線燈

that generations of scholars had pronounced it lost.

試圖還原書寫的字跡，

For five years, I had been working with an ultraviolet lamp

我做到當時科技能幫我的極限。

trying to recover traces of the writing

因此後來我和大家做一樣的事。

and I'd gone about as far as technology at the time

我上網，

could actually take me.

學到關於

And so I did what many people do.

多光譜造像過去怎麼用來

I went online,

復原希臘知名數學家 阿基米德的兩份論文，

and there I learned about

原稿寫在 13 世紀羊皮紙上。

how multispectral imaging had been used to recover two lost treatises

羊皮紙這種手稿 會一直被清除、覆寫。

of the famed Greek mathematician Archimedes

因此突然靈光一閃，

from a 13th-century palimpsest.

我決定寫封信

A palimpsest is a manuscript which has been erased and overwritten.

給那位負責阿基米德羊皮紙計畫的 首席影像科學家，

And so, out of the blue,

羅傑．伊斯頓教授，

I decided to write to the lead imaging scientist

信中附上計畫和請願。

on the Archimedes palimpsest project,

讓我驚訝的是，他回我信了。

Professor Roger Easton,

因為他的幫忙， 我申請到美國政府補助，

with a plan and a plea.

建造一個可移動的 多光譜造像實驗室。

And to my surprise, he actually wrote back.

有了這個實驗室， 我得以將焦黑、褪色的東西，

With his help, I was able to win a grant from the US government

轉變為嶄新的中古世紀經典。

to build a transportable, multispectral imaging lab,

那到底多光譜造像要怎麼做？

And with this lab, I transformed what was a charred and faded mess

首先，多光譜造像背後的想法

into a new medieval classic.

是每個戴過紅外線夜視鏡的人 都熟悉的原理，

So how does multispectral imaging actually work?

馬上就能理解：

Well, the idea behind multispectral imaging

我們在可見光譜中可以看到的

is something that anyone who is familiar with infrared night vision goggles

只是實景的一小部分。

will immediately appreciate:

看不見的筆跡也一樣。

that what we can see in the visible spectrum of light

我們的機器使用 12 道光波長，

is only a tiny fraction of what's actually there.

介於紫外線和紅外線之間，

The same is true with invisible writing.

這些光從上方這些 LED 燈 照在手稿上，

Our system uses 12 wavelengths of light

另一個多光譜光源

between the ultraviolet and the infrared,

從每張手稿下朝上照射出。

and these are shown down onto the manuscript from above

每次每頁最多可連續 造出 35 張影像，

from banks of LEDs,

運用高功率數位相機

and another multispectral light source

和一顆用石英做的鏡頭，

which comes up through the individual leaves of the manuscript.

全世界大概有五顆。

Up to 35 images per sequence per leaf are imaged this way

只要我們捕捉到影像，

using a high-powered digital camera equipped with a lens

就透過統計演算法，

which is made out of quartz.

進一步強化、辨析，

There are about five of these in the world.

搭配的軟體是 原先設計給衛星影像、

And once we capture these images,

地理空間科學家

we feed them through statistical algorithms

和中央情報局使用的。

to further enhance and clarify them,

結果可能非常驚人。

using software which was originally designed for satellite images

也許你聽過先例

and used by people like geospatial scientists

《死海古卷》的成果，

and the CIA.

現在這卷書快糊掉了。

The results can be spectacular.

透過紅外線，我們甚至可以看清

You may already have heard of what's been done

《死海古卷》最不清楚的角落。

for the Dead Sea Scrolls,

不過你可能會注意到

which are slowly gelatinizing.

其它聖經文本也處於險境。

Using infrared, we've been able to read even the darkest corners

例如這一頁手稿，

of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

我們已經造像，

You may not be aware, however,

這大概是世界上最珍貴的聖經。

of other Biblical texts that are in jeopardy.

《韋爾切利拉丁抄本》是世界上最早 譯為拉丁文的福音書，

Here, for example, is a leaf from a manuscript

可追溯到四世紀上半葉。

that we imaged,

這本聖經的年代是最接近

which is perhaps the most valuable Christian Bible in the world.

君士坦丁大帝以基督教立國，

The Codex Vercellensis is the oldest translation of the Gospels into Latin,

以及尼西亞會議

and it dates from the first half of the fourth century.

對基督教基本教義 取得一致意見的時期。

This is the closest we can come

很不幸這份抄本已嚴重受損，

to the Bible at the time of the foundation of Christendom

而且受損是因為幾世紀以來，

under Emperor Constantine,

世代人們手持著它

and at the time also of the Council of Nicaea,

在教堂儀式中宣誓。

when the basic creed of Christianity was being agreed upon.

其實，你在左上角看到的 這塊紫色污點

This manuscript, unfortunately, has been very badly damaged,

是麴菌，這種真菌

and it's damaged because for centuries

來自肺結核患者未洗淨的雙手。

it had been used and handled

我們造的影像， 讓我可以為此抄本製作出

in swearing in ceremonies in the church.

250 年來第一份副本。

In fact, that purple splotch that you see in the upper left hand corner

有一間能移動到文物收藏處的實驗室

is Aspergillus, which is a fungus

其實只是解決方法的一部分。

which originates in the unwashed hands

這項科技昂貴又稀有，

of a person with tuberculosis.

造像和影像的製成技術 也鮮為人知。

Our imaging has enabled me to make the first transcription

這代表了要復原文物

of this manuscript in 250 years.

是大多數學者辦不到的， 只有有錢機構能做到。

Having a lab that can travel to collections where it's needed, however,

這就是為什麼我籌備拉撒路計畫， （註：起死回生之意）

is only part of the solution.

這項非營利倡議

The technology is expensive and very rare,

將多光譜造像帶給個別的研究員

and the imaging and image processing skills are esoteric.

以及小型機構， 只需少許費用或根本不要錢。

That means that mounting recoveries

過去五年來，

is beyond the reach of most researchers and all but the wealthiest institutions.

我的團隊， 包含造像科學家、學者和學生，

That's why I founded the Lazarus Project,

前往七個國家

a not-for-profit initiative

復原了幾件世界極珍貴的受損手搞，

to bring multispectral imaging to individual researchers

包含《韋爾切利手抄本》， 最古老的英文書；

and smaller institutions at little or no cost whatsoever.

《卡馬森的黑皮書》， 最古老的威爾斯文書；

Over the past five years,

以及幾件最珍貴古老的福音書，

our team of imaging scientists, scholars and students

藏身在前蘇聯的喬治亞。

has travelled to seven different countries

因此多光譜造像 可以復原很多遺失的文字。

and have recovered some of the world's most valuable damaged manuscripts,

而且更巧妙的是能夠復原 隱身在每個文物背後的第二個故事，

included the Vercelli Book, which is the oldest book of English,

關於文本創作的原因、 時間和人物的故事，

the Black Book of Carmarthen, the oldest book of Welsh,

有時候還能復原 作者書寫時的想法。

and some of the most valuable earliest Gospels

例如，這份《美國獨立宣言》草稿

located in what is now the former Soviet Georgia.

由湯瑪斯．傑佛遜親手寫下，

So, spectral imaging can recover lost texts.

這是由我的幾位同事數年前

More subtly, though, it can recover a second story behind every object,

在國會圖書館造的像。

the story of how, when and by whom a text was created,

館長發現有一個字在整篇裡

and, sometimes, what the author was thinking at the time he wrote.

不斷被擦去又覆寫。

Take, for example, a draft of the Declaration of Independence

這個被覆寫的字是「公民」。

written in Thomas Jefferson's own hand,

也許你能猜出底下原本的字。

which some colleagues of mine imaged a few years ago

「臣民」。

at the Library of Congress.

各位女士、先生，美國的民主

Curators had noticed that one word throughout

在湯瑪斯．傑佛遜之手下展開了。

had been scratched out and overwritten.

或是想想 1491 年馬提勒斯的地圖，

The word overwritten was "citizens."

我們在耶魯 拜內克古籍善本圖書館造了像。

Perhaps you can guess what the word underneath was.

當年哥倫布就是先查了這份地圖，

"Subjects."

才到新世界航行，

There, ladies and gentlemen, is American democracy

這份地圖帶給他對亞洲的印象，

evolving under the hand of Thomas Jefferson.

以及日本所在位置的概念。

Or consider the 1491 Martellus Map,

這地圖的問題在於上面的墨料

which we imaged at Yale's Beinecke Library.

經年累月褪色得嚴重，

This was the map that Columbus likely consulted

以至於這張大約七呎的地圖

before he traveled to the New World

讓世界看起來像巨大的沙漠。

and which gave him his idea of what Asia looked like

直到現在， 我們對它的細節仍所知甚少，

and where Japan was located.

不了解哥倫布所知的世界

The problem with this map is that its inks and pigments

以及當時的世界文化如何被展現。

had so degraded over time

地圖上的說明在一般燈光下 完全看不見。

that this large, nearly seven-foot map,

紫外線的幫助非常有限。

made the world look like a giant desert.

多光譜帶給我們完整的面貌。

Until now, we had very little idea, detailed idea, that is,

在亞洲，我們看到怪獸 有非常長的耳朵，

of what Columbus knew of the world

可以覆蓋自己的全身。

and how world cultures were represented.

在非洲，有條蛇可以讓土地冒煙。

The main legend of the map was entirely illegible under normal light.

就像星光可以傳達出

Ultraviolet did very little for it.

遠古時期的宇宙影像一樣，

Multispectral gave us everything.

多光譜燈光也能帶我們回到 文物被創造之際，

In Asia, we learned of monsters with ears so long

作者躊躇不已的第一現場。

that they could cover the creature's entire body.

透過這個鏡頭，我們目睹了 錯誤、改變心意、

In Africa, about a snake who could cause the ground to smoke.

天真、未拘束的想法，

Like starlight, which can convey images

人類想像力的不完美

of the way the Universe looked in the distant past,

允許這些神聖的文物和創作者

so multispectral light can take us back to the first stuttering moments

變得更真實，

of an object's creation.

讓歷史更接近我們。

Through this lens, we witness the mistakes, the changes of mind,

那麼未來呢？

the naïvetés, the uncensored thoughts,

過去如此長遠，

the imperfections of the human imagination

很少人有這些技術

that allow these hallowed objects and their authors

趕在這些文物消逝之前 拯救過往。

to become more real,

這也是為什麼我開始教 這項新的混合學科，

that make history closer to us.

我稱為「原文科學」。

What about the future?

原文科學是場婚姻，結合

There's so much of the past,

文學學者的傳統技術──

and so few people with the skills to rescue it

閱讀古語和古文的能力，

before these objects disappear forever.

了解原文如何製成的知識，

That's why I have begun to teach this new hybrid discipline

以此來追溯時地──

that I call "textual science."

以及新技術，像是造像科學、

Textual science is a marriage

墨料科學、

of the traditional skills of a literary scholar --

電腦輔助的光學字元辨識。

the ability to read old languages and old handwriting,

去年，我班上的一位學生，

the knowledge of how texts are made

大一生，

in order to be able to place and date them --

有拉丁和希臘血統，

with new techniques like imaging science,

他為一張羊皮紙造影，

the chemistry of inks and pigments,

那是我們在羅馬的知名博物館 照相的羊皮紙。

computer-aided optical character recognition.

經過他努力後，小小的希臘文筆跡 開始顯現在文字背後。

Last year, a student in my class,

大家靠過去看，

a freshman,

他唸了一行

with a background in Latin and Greek,

希臘喜劇家米南德遺失的作品。

was image-processing a palimpsest

這是上千年來第一次，

that we had photographed at a famous library in Rome.

那些文字被大聲朗誦出。

As he worked, tiny Greek writing began to appear from behind the text.

在那一刻，他成為了學者。

Everyone gathered around,

各位女士、先生， 這是過去的未來。

and he read a line from a lost work

非常謝謝大家。

of the Greek comic dramatist Menander.

（掌聲）

This was the first time in well over a thousand years

that those words had been pronounced aloud.

In that moment, he became a scholar.