Could Phillip Seymour Hoffman Play Athanasius Kircher?
“The Kircher Code,” a paean to Father Kircher published today by Scott McLemee in Inside Higer Ed:
Kircher was the embodiment of untamed curiosity, and it is pretty obvious that he was having a very good time. Even granting detractors all their points, it is hard not to be somewhat in awe of the man. Someone who could invent microbiology, multiculturalism, and encryption technology (and in the 17th century no less) at least deserves to be on a T-shirt.
But no! All anybody wants to talk about is da Vinci. (Or rather, a bogus story about him that is the hermeneutic equivalent of putting “The Last Supper” on black velvet.)
Well, if you can’t beat ‘em…. Maybe it’s time for a trashy historical thriller that will give Kircher his due. So here goes:
After reading this column, Tom Hanks rushes off to the Vatican archives and finds proof that Kircher used his “universal polygraphy” to embed secret messages in his the artwork for his gorgeously illustrated books.
But that’s not all. By cracking the code, he finds a cure to the avian flu. Kircher has recognized this as a long-term menace, based on a comment by a Jesuit missionary work. (We learn all this in flashbacks. I see Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Athanasius Kircher.)
In fact, Kircher is already on a t-shirt. You can buy it here.
[Del.icio.us | Reddit | Digg]
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.











