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University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
- University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
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RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
JoJo_Jost > Yesterday, 01:04 PM
... i fear: Again An Arabic eisigesis? -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
Koen G > Yesterday, 01:07 PM
That's got to be AI, right? At this point, a blank cover with text is preferable.
I guess I'd go to the event for the Egyptian baklava. -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
asteckley > Yesterday, 01:11 PM
You can't judge a book by its cover.
Unless it was made by AI and it totally misrepresents the subject itself. -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
bi3mw > Yesterday, 01:19 PM
(Yesterday, 01:04 PM)JoJo_Jost Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.... i fear: Again An Arabic eisigesis
Maybe you're right, who knows? The book isn't listed anywhere, so there isn't a sample to read either. It's a good idea to flip through it first before buying it (which should be possible). If it turns out not to be any good, at least there'll still be a nice, fun get-together at the university with music, singing, and so on.
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RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
DG97EEB > Yesterday, 01:23 PM
From the Amazon link
"The Voynich Manuscript has been the subject of intense interest for over 100 years. Written in strange symbols, dozens and dozens of scholars have tried to break the strange code and translate the bizarre characters into a known language – but to no avail. Finally, one of the authors of this book has cracked the strange code and found that the codex is a manifesto of the Cathar religion. The Cathars, a sect of heretics in southern France during the Middle Ages, were brutally attacked by forces of the king of France and the Pope and faced vicious genocide. The author found that the manuscript was written in bizarre characters, and in Arabic, to hide the sect's heretical faith from the Inquisition. This book features long excerpts from the fifteenth century Voynich Manuscript translated by a specialist in medieval Arabic.Up to this time there have been essentially no cotemporary documents found detailing the theology and the religious practices of the Cathars. Now for the first time we can finally read the story of the brave Cathar people and their unique religion in a near contemporary document."
Seems to be a book based on the same paper discussed here You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
DG97EEB > Yesterday, 01:30 PM
LOL - I asked Google about The Cathars
"1. Most Adherents Were Illiterate
The vast majority of Cathar believers were rural peasants, weavers, and farmers. Written materials were rare luxury items. Complex cryptographic ciphers would have been completely useless for an underground movement that relied on spoken word, preaching, and secret meetings in homes or cave"
So not the best start.... that, and they were all dead by 1321 -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
bi3mw > Yesterday, 01:33 PM
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RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
LisaFaginDavis > Yesterday, 02:02 PM
It's published by "Cambridge Scholars," which is an independent press that prides itself on "taking a chance" by publishing books more competitive presses would reject, with little-to-no peer review. People complain about peer review as "gate-keeping," but a rigorous pre-publication review serves to give readers confidence that what they're reading has been vetted by scholars who are familiar with the field. When considering whether to believe what you read, you should always consider the publisher. -
RE: University of Florida, book signing August 8, 2026
asteckley > Yesterday, 02:37 PM
There was a time—not very long ago at all—when I went out of my way acquire virtually every book and article published on certain subjects, the Voynich Manuscript being one of those subjects. Some items were obviously of no real worth, written by the tin-foil-hat types, but there weren't so many that including them for the sake of completeness wasn't a problem.
That sure has changed! There is now such a torrent of garbage, compounded by mindless AI-generated content, that including everything actually detracts from the whole purpose of the collection.
I guess the value of such a focused-topic library has shifted -- now it's not how completely it collects everything published on a subject, but how well it filters out the crap so that it covers the full range of material that merits consideration—from well reasoned ideas and conventional interpretations to less accepted, contrarian ideas that still make a serious, worthwhile contribution.
