Hi
1602 Athanasius Kircher (d. November 27, 1680), 17th century German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. He made an early study of Egyptian hieroglyphs. He was ahead of his time in proposing that the plague was caused by an infectious microorganism and in suggesting effective measures to prevent the spread of the disease.
Kircher was a probable one-time owner of the Voynich Manuscript, the mysterious and so far untranslatable 240-page medieval manuscript owned in more recent years by Wilfrid Voynich ...
Read on at the Book of Days http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/bookofdays.html
Jean