Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Kevin Knight
Information Sciences Institute
University of Southern California
Many pictures
look like grafting.
What is this?
The Pictures: Biological
Small nudes in baths
medicine
jar?
History of Voynich Manuscript
1864 Ethel Boole born in England
1865 WV born in Lithuania
1885 WV imprisoned, Polish nationalist
Wilfrid Michael Voynich
1890 WV & EB meet, marry in 1902
book dealer
1898 WV publishes first book list
1912 WV acquires VMS in “ancient castle”
1914 WV moves to USA, opens bookshop
1919 WV sends photostatic copies of VMS
1919 Copying reveals de Tepencz signature
1919 WV writes to Bohemian State Archvs
1921 WV presents VMS + Marci letter
mentioning Bacon, $160k price
1921 Newbold & WV announce decipherment
William Newbold, 1930 WV dies. VMS placed in vault, $100k
Polymath, PhD UPenn 1931 VMS appraised at $19,400
1960 Ethel dies, VMS to secretary Ann Nill
“Castle” revealed as Villa Mondragone
1961 NY dealer Hans Kraus buys for $24,500
1969 Kraus donates VMS to Yale
1972 Brumbaugh finds WV letters in BSA
200x Zandbergen finds 1639 Baresch letter
in newly online Kircher archive
One-Page Letter Tucked Into VMS
Kircher,
Reverend and Distinguished Sir; Father in Christ:
super-scholar,
recipient of
This book bequeathed to me by an intimate friend,
this letter
I destined for you, my very dear Athanasius [Kircher],
as soon as it came into my possession, for I was
???,
convinced that it could be read by no one except
owned VMS
yourself. The former owner of this book once asked
before Marci
your opinion by letter … Accept now this token …
Dr Raphael, tutor in the Bohemian language to
Emperor
Ferdinand III, then King of Bohemia, told me the said
Rudolf,
book had belonged to the Emperor Rudolf and that
paid 600 ducats
he presented the bearer who brought him the book
for VMS
600 ducats. He believed the author was Roger Bacon,
the Englishman. On this point I suspend judgment …
At the command of your reverence,
Roger Bacon
(1214-94)
Joannes Marcus Marci of Cronland
“first scientist”
Prague, 19 August, 1665(6?)
William Newbold,
Polymath, PhD UPenn
“artist’s rendition”
apparent
… 4OPCC89 … ciphertext
William Newbold,
Polymath, PhD UPenn
real
ciphertext:
DOMI…
I
M
O
D
“artist’s rendition”
Let’s Decipher with Newbold !
real ciphertext
PCC89 … DOMI…
doubling
apparent ciphertext
I
M
O
D
DO OM MI …
non-deterministic
anagramming
OM DO MI …
lookup in 222 table
a n n…
non-deterministic
mapping from 11
o n n… Latin letters to full 22
Let’s Decipher with Newbold !
real ciphertext
PCC89 … DOMI…
doubling
apparent ciphertext
I
M
O
D
DO OM MI …
non-deterministic
anagramming
Of course the 222 table OM DO MI …
isn’t given, so we have lookup in 222 table
to build it up through a n n…
non-deterministic
cryptanalysis. Wow, mapping from 11
this is a lot of work! o n n… Latin letters to full 22
Newbold Decipherment
1300 real ciphertext “letters” in first 3 lines
BSC8AE OPCC9 4OE FCC89 4OFCC9 4OP9 SCBS9 4OBSC9 EFAM OPAE29
2ZC9 4OFC89 4OFAM Z89 4OFCC9 SC89 4OFCC9 4OFCC9 ESC89 EOP9
8ZC9 4OPCCC9 8ARSC89 4OFC9 4OP9
BSC8AE OPCC9 4OE FCC89 4OFCC9 4OP9 SCBS9 4OBSC9 EFAM OPAE29
2ZC9 4OFC89 4OFAM Z89 4OFCC9 SC89 4OFCC9 4OFCC9 ESC89 EOP9
8ZC9 4OPCCC9 8ARSC89 4OFC9 4OP9
S S S S S S
Alphabet: Currier/D’Imperio
Transcription
C S Z P F B V Q X W Y
C S Z P F B V Q X W Y
Are these ligatures?
Is Q just a fancy way of writing SP ?
If you didn’t know English, how would you know if fi was the same as f i ?
• Writing in Tongues?
– Medium Helene Smith, investigated by Theodore
Flournoy (1896)
– Under a trance, Smith was able to converse with
Martians
– She learned their language and could speak and
write it
– Looked like a genuine language Smith’s Martian
– Grammar closer to French than you might expect
Hoax
• Previous hoaxes:
– Hitler diaries
– Vinland map
• Voynich Manuscript:
– How?
– Why?
– Who?
How?
• Gordon Rugg
(Scientific American,
2004)
– Proposed Cardan grille
– Elizabethan espionage
tool
– If applied with
randomness injected,
claimed to generate
VMS-like text
Why?
KPMG Forensic’s 2006 Survey of Fraud in
Australia and New Zealand
Most Popular Motives for Fraud:
– greed/lifestyle (54%)
– gambling (22%)
– personal financial pressure (5%)
– other (5%)
– not specified (3.5%)
– opportunity (0.4%)
– substance abuse (0.4%)
BUT: what if Voynich
Who? suggested in Kennedy &
Churchill, 2005
de Tepenecz
signature Needed $ who doesn’t?
suspiciously found
during overexposure
tricky said to have
Marci letter traded newer,
very convenient “better” books
spoke 18 for monks’
faked to add a Roger languages old dirty ones
Bacon connection?
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e e e e
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e e e
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
e
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e e e the
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e e e
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
e
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e he e the
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e e e t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
e
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e he e of the
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e e e t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
e
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e he e of the fof
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e f o e o oe t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
ef
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e he e of the
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e e e t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
e
kowazoanv ...
Substitution Cipher
e he e is the sis
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e s i e i ie t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
es
kowazoanv ...
Cryptodict
abacdefb
abacdefb
ACADEMIC
DEDICATE
Substitution Cipher
abacdefb MEMBRANE
abacdefc ELECTRIC
abacdefc TUTELAGE
abacdefd ANARCHIC
abacdefd EVERYDAY
abacdefe ANALYSES
abacdefe ANALYSIS
abacdeff EYEGLASS
e he e is the sis
ingcmpnqsnwf cv fpn owoktvcv
e s i e i ie t
hu ihgzsnwfv rqcffnw cw owgcnwf
es
kowazoanv ...
Cryptodict
abacdefb
abacdefb
ACADEMIC
DEDICATE
Substitution Cipher
abacdefb MEMBRANE
abacdefc ELECTRIC
abacdefc TUTELAGE
abacdefd ANARCHIC
abacdefd EVERYDAY
abacdefe ANALYSES
abacdefe ANALYSIS
abacdeff EYEGLASS
__
V A S 9 2 _ 9 F A E _ A R _ A P A M _ …
Generative Models Initially uniform
Trigram model over {a, b, _ }
What parameter settings
aa _bab_abaa_… result in highest P(corpus) ?
EM algorithm.
__
i n _ t h e _ t o w n _ w h e r e _ i _ was …
Generative Models Initially uniform
Trigram model over {a, b, _ }
What parameter settings
aa _bab_abaa_… result in highest P(corpus) ?
EM algorithm.
a
a b _ b b a _ b a b b _
b i n _ t h e _ t o w n _
b b a b a _ a _ …
w h e r e _ i _ …
__
i n _ t h e _ t o w n _ w h e r e _ i _ was …
Generative Models Initially uniform
Trigram model over {a, b, _ }
What parameter settings
aa _bab_abaa_… result in highest P(corpus) ?
EM algorithm.
?
a {all Voynich letters}
?
b {all Voynich letters}
? ? ? ? ? _ ? ? ? ? _ ? ? _
V A S 9 2 _ 9 F A E _ A R _
? ? ? ? _ ? ? ? _ ? ? ? ? _ …
A P A M _ Z O E _ Z O R 9 _ …
__
V A S 9 2 _ 9 F A E _ A R _ A P A M _ …
Generative Models Initially uniform
Trigram model over {a, b, _ }
What parameter settings
aa _bab_abaa_… result in highest P(corpus) ?
EM algorithm.
a
b b b b a _ a b b a _ b a _
b V A S 9 2 _ 9 F A E _ A R _
b b b a _ b b a _ b b b a _ …
A P A M _ Z O E _ Z O R 9 _ …
__
V A S 9 2 _ 9 F A E _ A R _ A P A M _ …
Generative Models
P(letter | tag) P(tag | letter)
P(a)
1
0.9
English a 0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
b 0.2
0.1
0
B D J KMN P Q VWX L R C F G T H S Y U E O A I
P(a)
1
0.9
Voynich a
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
b 0.2
0.1
0
0 1 4 SWY X Q C A F P B I O 8 V * 2 H E G T R K U 6 J D 9 3 NM 5 L
Generative Models
Bigram model over {a, b}
What parameter settings
aabababaa… result in highest P(corpus) ?
EM algorithm.
a
b
a a a a a …
QRC2 9 FOR ZOE89 2OR9 …
b
WAIT,
WHAT?
VAS92 9FAE AR APAM ZOE ZOR9 QRC2 9 ...
200
400
600
200
400
600
0
0
1 1
6 6
11 11
16 16
21 21
26 26
31 31
36 36
41 41
46 46
51 51
56 56
61 61
66 66
71 71
Voynich words tagged as “a”
196 196
201 201
206 206
211 211
216 216
pages
221 221
200
400
600
200
400
600
0
0
1 1
6 6
11 11
16 16
21 21
26 26
31 31
36 36
41 41
46 46
51 51
56 56
61 61
66 66
71 71
Voynich words tagged as “a”
196 196
201 201
206 206
211 211
216 216
pages
221 221
200
400
600
200
400
600
0
0
1 1
6 6
11 11
16 16
21 21
26 26
31 31
36 36
41 41
46 46
51 51
56 56
61 61
Herbal
66 66
71 71
Voynich words tagged as “a”
161 161
166 166
171 171
176 176
181 181
186 186
191 191
Generative Models
196 196
Pharma
201 201
206 206
211 211
216 216
pages
221 221
Stars
Generative Models
Voynich words tagged as “a” pages
600
400
200
0
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96
101
106
111
116
121
126
131
136
141
146
151
156
161
166
171
176
181
186
191
196
201
206
211
216
221
Voynich words tagged as “b”
600
400
200
0
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96
101
106
111
116
121
126
131
136
141
146
151
156
161
166
171
176
181
186
191
196
201
206
211
216
221
Herbal Astro Bio Pharma Stars
same pages
Rene Zandbergen (1997)
10-class
c f tagging of
Voynich-B
e g h
i
j
Class-Tag Sequences
• Tagging of first VMS page:
– f g d h f g i d b j c c b e e a h f g e e a b e e a h f g d b j j c c b e a h f g j j j c c
c h f g b j j c c b j j c b j c c b e a h f g b j c b j c c b j c b i d i d c b j c c c c c
c c c c b e a i d b j c c b j c c b j c c b j c c c c c h f g d b j j j j c c h f g b j j c
b e a b i d i d h f g d i d i d i d h f g d b j j j c b j c c c c b j c c c b e a h f h f h
f g b j c b e e e a h f g b j e a i d i d b j c b j c b j c h f g b j j c c c c c c b j j c
b j c b e a h f g d i d i d b j c b j j j j c b j j c c c b j c b j c b j c c c c b j c b j
c c c c c c i d b j c c c c b j c c c b j c c c c c c b j c h f g e a h f g i d i d b j j c
b j c b j c b j c b e a b j c c c c c b j c c c c c c c c c i d b j c c c c b j c b j c c b
i d i d i d b j j c b j c c c i d i d i d h f g b j c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c b e a h
f g h f g e a i
10 Classes 50
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
a
50
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
b
of words: 200
c
100
d
Voynich-B 100
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
c
50
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
d
e f
100 100
Tags per 50
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
e
50
0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
f
page. g h
100 100
50 50
0 g 0 h
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
i j
100 100
50 50
i j
0 0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
a b
10 Classes 100
50
0 a
100
50
0 b
of words: 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
c d
Voynich-B 200
100
100
50
c d
0 0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
page. 50
0
e
50
0
f
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
g h
“Bio” words vs. 100
50
100
50
0 g 0 h
“Stars” words 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
i j
100 100
50 50
i j
0 0
1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46
Conclusion
• Voynich Manuscript
– What it is pretty clear
– Where it came from less clear
– What it means totally unclear