Have you ever heard the story of the medieval monk who tried to fly? His name was Eilmer of Malmesbury, and he was quite the ...

Lesser known than some other beloved tales of larger-than-life heroes such as Gilgamesh, Beowulf and King Arthur, the Song of Wade is a case study in what happens when stories aren’t written down. The ...

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The material on the covers of books from a French abbey was too hairy to have come from calves or other local mammals. Researchers identified its more distant origin. By Jack Tamisiea Medieval scribes ...

Using CT scanning on 16th-century books, researchers uncovered bits of parchment salvaged from handwritten manuscripts. By Katherine Kornei Even in medieval times, recycling was in vogue: Bits of ...

From the movement of stars to light streaming through stained-glass windows, light has long fascinated scientists and other thinkers. An exhibition at the Getty in Los Angeles explores how an emerging ...

Those who study human culture must grapple with what amounts to an incomplete data set, since researchers are limited to poring over the books, manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts ...