1

Paper has been a standard basically since its invention; we know, today, of books that lasted for centuries in excellent conditions, especially if properly maintained. Unfortunately this is not enough for my cultists.

What I need is, simply, a book that is built in a way that can last about 10,000 years. It has to be a book, no nanofiche or crystal storage, just a book with an hardback cover and flexible pages made of paper-like material. Another requisite is that there is no way to ensure it will be handled properly for all of its lifetime, so it must be resistant to stuffs like oxidation and water damage as well.

Do we have materials today that can be used for such a feat? What could be used to make the pages? ink? cover? How is the book put together?

SilverCookies
  • 6,675
  • 5
  • 31
  • 55
  • Honestly, just laminating the pages might work if you kept the book in a safe location. – Halfthawed Mar 13 '20 at 17:33
  • 1
    We have substantial manuscripts on papyrus written about 4500 years ago, in the days of pharaoh Cheops, he of the Great Pyramid fame. We have manuscripts on parchment written about 4,400 years ago, during the Egyptian Sixth Dynasty. I would like to believe that in the 21st century we have a technological level somewhat more advanced than what the Egyptians had at the dawn of civilization. For documents intended to last a very long time, we still use parchment. – AlexP Mar 13 '20 at 17:52
  • If the book is used day-to-day, maybe teach your cultists hole-punch language, similar to braille. Then, you can just take sheets of non-degrading inert plastic (teflon idk), punch a bunch of holes in it, and have a waterproof and chemical proof book that will last basically forever. – Dragongeek Mar 13 '20 at 17:56
  • The long surviving Egyptian examples were stored in dry conditions and not handled for most of that time. – Patricia Shanahan Mar 13 '20 at 18:02
  • @PatriciaShanahan: But today we can print books on polyethylene and stabilized PVC, materials which are vastly more resistant than what they had in the deep antiquity. – AlexP Mar 13 '20 at 18:07
  • How about the palimpsest risk? The higher the quality of the flexible pages, the greater the temptation to scrape off the writing to substitute something that seems more valuable in the current time and place. – Patricia Shanahan Mar 14 '20 at 00:07

0 Answers0