Science: Beaming in on the Past

A refurbished cyclotron probes some historic documents

The world of academia has been astir lately with revelations about historic books and documents. Subscribers receiving their copy of the quarterly Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America found it devoted largely to analyses of paper and ink used in the Gutenberg Bible; the research shed new light on the production techniques used in Johann Gutenberg's print- shop. In Ann Arbor, Mich., UMI Research Press was shipping copies of The Calov Bible of J.S. Bach, which reveals that markings on the pages of the Bible owned by Bach were made by the great composer. And in Washington, the journal Analytical...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!