Science: Beaming in on the Past

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Just as remarkable, says Schwab, is that the cyclotron analysis "gets us right back into Gutenberg's original printshop, for which there are no records whatsoever. We've pretty well cracked the code of the day-to-day or page-by- page organization of the Bible." From the various physical and chemical characteristics of the printed page, Schwab has concluded that Gutenberg used six production crews and at least two presses to complete the Bible. He can even identify by page the times when different tasks were shifted around to keep the production crews busy.

Last year the Davis team persuaded Yale University, which owns the controversial Vinland map, to fly it to Davis, where it was subjected to the proton beam. The map, supposedly dating to around 1440, created a sensation when it was revealed in 1965 because it showed part of North America, labeled VINLANDA INSULA. It seemed to be the first cartographic evidence that Europeans had visited the continent before the time of Columbus. In 1974, however, some particles of ink from the map were found to be titanium-based. This meant, experts said, that the ink was of 20th century vintage and the map a fraud. But the Davis team, using their cyclotron technique, proved the ink was carbon based, with titanium present only in trace amounts. Says Cahill: "We feel that the question of the map's authenticity is once again open."

In another cyclotron investigation, Physicist Bruce Kusko, a member of the Davis team, examined the three-volume Calov Bible that once belonged to Bach. By comparing the composition of the ink used in underlinings and quotation marks that appear throughout the Bible with that of Bach's signature on the title page, he confirmed that the composer, and not one of the subsequent owners, had made the markings. Kusko believes that his finding is important because the markings provide clues about which passages influenced the composer.

Even fragments of the jealously guarded Dead Sea Scrolls have made the trip to Davis, where researchers confirmed that the documents had been preserved by being soaked in salt water, probably from the Dead Sea. They also found that earlier scrolls were written in the purest carbon-based inks. But ink on the later scrolls contained elevated levels of copper. The significance, Schwab speculates, is that a change in rabbinical decree might have allowed the substitute ink to be used if none other was available.

As word spreads about the revelations of cyclotron analysis, the Davis team expects a mounting tide of requests from around the world. Cahill is not concerned. Says he modestly: "When someone needs a nondestructive analysis of a small amount of material, we can help."