Cultural heritage is constantly under threat. In recent years, we’ve witnessed the destruction of museums, archives and libraries around the world — from wildfires in California to bombing in Gaza and wars in Ukraine and Iran.
Meanwhile, book scientists are working tirelessly with an array of technologies — including microscopes, multispectral imaging and artificial intelligence — to recover, understand and preserve many valuable ancient texts.
This approach transforms what we can know about the past, as we learn how old books were made and how they change over time. It also helps us to care for fragile collections at a moment when climate change and mass digitization are reshaping cultural heritage work.
