The Sibiu Manuscript Mystery...!

Often we are amazed at how advanced some of our relations of the past were and at the extent of their knowledge. Maybe we don't give them the credit they deserved...at least some of them.

The Sibiu Manuscript

Photo credit: Conrad Haas

It took until 1961 for someone to discover a document named the Sibiu manuscript. The document contains 450 pages and dates back to the 1500s. The writing inside, however, is what has stumped experts. It includes technical specifications regarding artillery, ballistics, and multistage rockets.

The manuscript also details the successful launching of a multitiered rocket in front of thousands of witnesses in the city of Sibiu in 1555. The author of the manuscript, Conrad Haas, included drawings of the rocket, which he designed and built. It is believed that the Sibiu manuscript is the first document detailing the science of rocket-building. Haas also detailed the idea of modern spacecraft, rocket fuel, liquid fuel, and delta wings.

How it came to be that someone figured out rocket science hundreds of years before astronauts in the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury programs used the technology remains a mystery.

I found this article over at Listverse, but I have a question about this article that maybe you can help explain. If the manuscript was written in the 1500s, why is the photo credit given the same name as the author? I just found this interesting, ya know?

Coffee out on the patio this morning, while it's still cool.