Beyond the Map and the Manuscript

Umberto Eco and the Affair of Rennes-le-Château I imagine that some readers of The Map and the Manuscript might be surprised, even perhaps a little disappointed, to find the final chapter devoted to a discussion of the novel Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Rather than, say, an explosive claim to have found some extraordinary treasure, or terrible secret, or grand conspiracy. If so, I hope they won't feel too let down. I'd like to think that Umberto Eco's novel is a far richer treat and a...

New Angles on Ancient Babylonian Geometry (Part 1) In recent years, insights from two Sydney University mathematicians, Prof Norman Wildberger and Dr Daniel Mansfield, have shed fascinating new light on aspects of ancient Babylonian geometry. In particular, fresh analysis of two tablets, known as Si427 and Plimpton 322, has revealed the role and importance Pythagorean triangles played in their cosmology. As these and other tablets date to as early as 1900BC, this is more than a millennia...

Marking the Centre of the World: The Occitan Cross and the Zodiac of Toulouse (Part 2) We've seen in Part 1 that Toulouse has historically been represented by the Occitan Cross. We've also seen that the Occitan Cross is associated with the zodiac, in esoteric lore. Then, in 1997, a sculpture of the the Occitan Cross, with the zodiac added, was installed in the Place du Capitole, the geographic and symbolic centre of Toulouse. So after that year, the Occitan Cross with a zodiac marked the...

Marking the Centre of the World: The Occitan Cross and the Zodiac of Toulouse (Part 1) At the heart of the city of Toulouse, in southern France, is the Capitole, housing the Mairie or city hall, and municipal administration. Its buildings date from 1190AD, whilst the origins of Toulouse itself go back at least another thousand years. In front of the Capitole is a large public square, the Place du Capitole, which can be considered the cultural, historical and geographical focal point of the...

Beyond The Map and the Manuscript: A blog about the book. And beyond. It's now been just over a year since the publication of The Map and the Manuscript: Journeys in the Mysteries of the Two Rennes, and a lot has happened in that time. It's been quite a rollercoaster ride. I've been really thrilled with the reaction the book has received from many readers. At the same time, it's probably fair to say that, from some quarters, the response has not been quite what I had expected, or hoped....