The Page

The Encyclopedia Foundation has as part of its mission statement this line, “and make plans for the assistance of anyone who finds themselves in a position where ordinary education is difficult or impossible.”

The design of the metal plates will have to take that into account.

The plates will be engraved in regular sized font. It will state what the plate is about and how to use the lenses to see more. That regular sized font will be on what appears to be a checkerboard, but will really be tens of thousands of pages of micro-engraved data.

That data, readable by the lenses, will contain the data on the subject, but no matter the subject, one part will always be how to construct and use the type of high powered microscope needed to read the final layer.

That layer will be even more micro-miniaturized print that is between the micro-engraved pages. In those spaces will be hundreds of thousands of pages of additional data.

Though the hypothetical future viewer won’t know it, that last layer, with over a million pages, will always be the same. The “same” being that it will have all the data we have available for storage. That way, no matter what metal plate is found, on any subject, while it will contain an exhaustive account of that subject in the second layer, the third will be everything else as well.

Example: First layer, “This page contains the Encyclopedia Britannica 13th edition, the Harvard Five Foot Shelf of Knowledge, the King James Version of the Holy Bible and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Please know that the little squares you see are the pages, and you can read these pages with the lenses in the box with the picture of eyes on it. You will have to place the plate on the table with the pictures of hands on it. Fasten it in with the clamps. Make sure the lantern is lit and nearby. Start at the upper corner where you see the five pointed star. They are in order from the top to the bottom and from the corner with the star to the corner with the crescent.”

“Besides those books, there will be instructions as to how to build a microscope sufficient to see even further. There you will find the collected knowledge of mankind. There you will learn to control the power of lightning and of the sun. You will learn how to fly, and how to journey to the heavens. If this is of no use to you, please leave it for someone else. If you know someone who would appreciate it, please take it to them, and let them know where you found it.”

Now as to the second layer, they are starting at the upper left hand corner (the star!) as we told them to. (The plate in Arabic will need to start at the upper right, due to the language rules.)

That first page of the second layer will be a congratulations, and further explanation. A “Table of Contents” if you will.

“The Encyclopedia Foundation congratulates you on finding or making a lens with which to read this! All information that you seek is to be found here. Other plates with the same information, or other subjects, may be found not only in our Vault, but at the following locations:

The Long Now Foundation at such and such latitude and such and such longitude. Here is a map of how to get there from here by means of roads that existed in 02011. (Map shown)

The Catholic Diocese in Such and Such at (latitude and longitude) (Map shown)

(Several more long term organizations and their locations)

Please note that the year 02011 was 42 years after men first landed on the moon in 01969 and 66 years after the first atomic bomb was exploded in 01945.

Going from the corner with the star to the corner with the moon and then back to the next row, over and over, will show you the following:

Page 1 – This page, the page you are reading right now.
Page 2 – An introduction from a person of the year 02011 CE. The person who’s message you will read is the one who helped create this page. Without him, it would not have been possible.
Page 3 – A explanation of the Encyclopedia Foundation, a group of people who wished to help preserve knowledge, and make it available to you. Also an explanation of how not all information is accurate, and what “fiction” means.
Page 4 – Page 10,000 Text books on English, Mathematics, and Science such as would be used in a school for children. From ages of five to eighteen. A reading of them will provide context.
Page 10,001 to Page 11,000 – The Oxford Dictionary to let you look up words you do not understand.
Page 11,001 to Page 43,000 - The 13th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, which was the 11th edition regarded as the finest, plus three supplements. It contains the total of mankind’s knowledge as of the year 01911, or 8 years after the first mechanical airplane was invented in 01903. It also contains those three supplements making it current as of 01926.
Page 43,001 to 68,000 - The Harvard Five Foot Shelf of Knowledge
Page 68,001 to 70,469 – The LDS "Standard Works" or "Quad"
Page 70,470 to 71,471 – The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Page 71,472 to 100,000 – Everything you need to know to build a high powered microscope

Now, as to the third layer, that will contain all that we intend on preserving. Though the “how to” on the microscope will involve a good deal of information on fields like ore refining, metallurgy, smelting, tool and die making, machining, electronics and more.

How is 100,000 pages readable with a lens or series of lenses? We will deliberately determine the size of the page based on that. On a two inch disc, you might get 10,000 pages readable with a lens or series of lenses. Perhaps then the “page” size we choose will be 20 inches a side.

Make no mistake, this is going to be an expensive project. And also, there are other ways of going about this. Frankly, we debate sometimes as whether a third layer – with the massive additional expense and the necessity for the people of the future to have electron microscopes – is practical.

It may be – time will tell – that we only have two layers, and each large “page” will have 100,000 pages of data. Maybe. But we’ll probably do the third layer. Anything worth doing…and all that.