Re: Ink and paper analysis?

[Philip Marshall <philip.marshall@xxxxxxxx>]

I don't know that pollen analysis would tell us anything we don't already
know (the pollen found in the four Czech books did no more than confirm in
very general and vague terms their known history). I provided the
reference only to alert people to the interesting fact that such a study,
as far-fetched as it might sound, had indeed been done before. I'm not a
palynologist, but I know that pollen can usually be identified only to
the level of genus, not species (and sometimes only to the family level),
so the information provided in a pollen record is sufficient only to
differentiate an oak forest, say, from a pine forest, steppe grassland, or
cornfield, as the ecological context of the deposit (and an oak or pine
forest can just as easily be North American or Asian as European).
Scanning electron microscopy is the technique used in palynology.

-Philip

On Fri, 23 Mar 2001 RSRICHMOND@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Philip Marshall, who as an MESc Candidate in the School of Forestry &
> Environmental Studies at Yale University ought to know, suggests that pollen
> analysis might be useful in studying the Voynich manuscript.
>
> I suppose these studies are done by scanning electron microscopy, a widely
> available, fairly non-destructive method of creating images from an electron
> beam reflected off the surface of an object, rather than penetrating it
> (transmission electron microscopy).
>
> What could such studies tell us about where the Voynich manuscript has been.
> Obviously it's been in western Europe and in North America. Could pollen
> analysis tell us whether it's been in China or the Pacific rim? Such
> information might offer valuable clues as to what the language is.
>
> Bob Richmond
> Knoxville, Tennessee
>

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philip Marshall
MESc Candidate
Yale University
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

tel: +1 203.436.2137
email: philip.marshall@xxxxxxxx or pmm8@xxxxxxxxxxx

"The pig was not merely a pig but a creature bound among other things to
the fence, the dandelion, and a very special definition of property."
					-William Cronon