6 ms·

Other than declaring that the solution is obvious to a self-declared expert such as himself, the author (Nicholas Gibbs) doesn't appear to give any proof of his

by nkurz 9y ago

Other than declaring that the solution is obvious to a self-declared expert such as himself, the author (Nicholas Gibbs) doesn't appear to give any proof of his theory. So far I can can find online, this piece is the only thing he has ever published about the Voynich manuscript: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22nicholas+gibbs%22+voynich https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22nicholas+gibbs%22+voynich Who is Nicholas Gibbs? Does anyone besides Nicholas Gibbs trust his opinion on these matters? And how did he convince the TLS to publish this drivel? (to avoid being entirely negative, here's a link to a blog that shows what some better Voynich research looks like: https://stephenbax.net https://stephenbax.net)

crumbles 9y ago
Nate Kurz? Who is this guy anyway? While he might appear to have 40018 or higher karma on Hacker News, how does that give him the authority to drag Nicholas Gibbs' name through the mud, and for what? A temporary spot at the top of the HN comments for what could be one of the sanest things I've ever read by Nicholas Gibbs? Nate didn't even have to convince anyone to allow him to publish this drivel. All he had to do was post his comment to HN, and then, based on his karma, he was not only allowed to disparage Nicholas Gibbs, who was chosen to be published by TLS, but he was able to disparage TLS in the process! (to avoid being entirely negative, here's a link to what should be discussed here: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript-solution/ https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript...)
mcguire 9y ago
"As someone with long experience of interpreting the Latin inscriptions on classical monuments and the tombs and brasses in English parish churches, I recognized in the Voynich script tell-tale signs of an abbreviated Latin format." Oh, my. Either this is a parody or a tutorial on how to identify "crazy person goes down rat hole" situations.
- mcguire 9y ago
  "Systematic study of every single character in the Lexicon identified further ligatures and abbreviations in the Voynich manuscript and set a precedent. It became obvious that each character in the Voynich manuscript represented an abbreviated word and not a letter." And here we go....
  - mcguire 9y ago
    "This was problematic until I realized that not only had the folios of the manuscript been cropped (the images of flowers and roots have been severed and the tops of folios hacked) but, more importantly, the indexes that should have been there were now absent. Indexes are present in many other similar books: a system of cross-reference for illness, complaints, names of plants and page numbers. For the sake of brevity, the name of both plant and malaise were superfluous in the text so long as they could be found in the indexes matched with a page number." Whee! It's like a slip-n-slide greased with butter.
mcguire 9y ago
The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4861262/Expert-claims-Voynich-manuscript-medieval-health-manual.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4861262/Exper...) has a few more details: "...one British academic claims..." "Nicholas Gibbs, who is an expert on medieval medical manuscripts,...." "Mr Gibbs, who claims to be a professional history researcher..."
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
quinndupont 9y ago
Agreed. It's a super strange article (sure, written like an academic, but even most don't bury the lede that badly!) From the article it isn't clear if all or just a portion of the text is decipherable using the implied logic (ligatures of abbreviations of medicinal items).
CommieBobDole 9y ago
You know, it does seem odd that there's no background on the author and his qualifications attached to the article, and I can't seem to find any sign of him elsewhere.
- puzzle 9y ago
  Pseudonym?
emmelaich 9y ago
I found a Nicholas Gibbs article on a medieval figure here: http://theibizan.com/ramon-llull-philosopher-logician/ http://theibizan.com/ramon-llull-philosopher-logician/ Same guy? Editor of a paper in Ibiza. ps. http://www.voynich.nu/ http://www.voynich.nu/ has a lot of interesting discussion; it's much linked to from wikipedia.
mundo 9y ago
I wonder if perhaps the article is a teaser for a forthcoming documentary? > A chance remark just over three years ago brought me a commission from a television production company to analyse the illustrations of the Voynich manuscript and examine the commentators’ theories.

by nkurz 9y ago

crumbles 9y ago

Nate Kurz? Who is this guy anyway? While he might appear to have 40018 or higher karma on Hacker News, how does that give him the authority to drag Nicholas Gibbs' name through the mud, and for what? A temporary spot at the top of the HN comments for what could be one of the sanest things I've ever read by Nicholas Gibbs? Nate didn't even have to convince anyone to allow him to publish this drivel. All he had to do was post his comment to HN, and then, based on his karma, he was not only allowed to disparage Nicholas Gibbs, who was chosen to be published by TLS, but he was able to disparage TLS in the process! (to avoid being entirely negative, here's a link to what should be discussed here: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript-solution/ https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript...)

mcguire 9y ago

"As someone with long experience of interpreting the Latin inscriptions on classical monuments and the tombs and brasses in English parish churches, I recognized in the Voynich script tell-tale signs of an abbreviated Latin format." Oh, my. Either this is a parody or a tutorial on how to identify "crazy person goes down rat hole" situations.

mcguire 9y ago
"Systematic study of every single character in the Lexicon identified further ligatures and abbreviations in the Voynich manuscript and set a precedent. It became obvious that each character in the Voynich manuscript represented an abbreviated word and not a letter." And here we go....
- mcguire 9y ago
  "This was problematic until I realized that not only had the folios of the manuscript been cropped (the images of flowers and roots have been severed and the tops of folios hacked) but, more importantly, the indexes that should have been there were now absent. Indexes are present in many other similar books: a system of cross-reference for illness, complaints, names of plants and page numbers. For the sake of brevity, the name of both plant and malaise were superfluous in the text so long as they could be found in the indexes matched with a page number." Whee! It's like a slip-n-slide greased with butter.

mcguire 9y ago

The Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4861262/Expert-claims-Voynich-manuscript-medieval-health-manual.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4861262/Exper...) has a few more details: "...one British academic claims..." "Nicholas Gibbs, who is an expert on medieval medical manuscripts,...." "Mr Gibbs, who claims to be a professional history researcher..."

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

quinndupont 9y ago

Agreed. It's a super strange article (sure, written like an academic, but even most don't bury the lede that badly!) From the article it isn't clear if all or just a portion of the text is decipherable using the implied logic (ligatures of abbreviations of medicinal items).

CommieBobDole 9y ago

You know, it does seem odd that there's no background on the author and his qualifications attached to the article, and I can't seem to find any sign of him elsewhere.

puzzle 9y ago
Pseudonym?

emmelaich 9y ago

I found a Nicholas Gibbs article on a medieval figure here: http://theibizan.com/ramon-llull-philosopher-logician/ http://theibizan.com/ramon-llull-philosopher-logician/ Same guy? Editor of a paper in Ibiza. ps. http://www.voynich.nu/ http://www.voynich.nu/ has a lot of interesting discussion; it's much linked to from wikipedia.

mundo 9y ago

I wonder if perhaps the article is a teaser for a forthcoming documentary? > A chance remark just over three years ago brought me a commission from a television production company to analyse the illustrations of the Voynich manuscript and examine the commentators’ theories.