FOUR hundred years ago, Timbuktu was what might today be called a centre of scientific excellence. The evidence of that has lain in the Malian city's unique libraries for centuries, in the form of ancient and fragile manuscripts on mathematics and astronomy, biology and medicine.
The destruction of thousands of valuable documents at the hands of Islamist militants is a loss to world heritage (see "Retreating rebels burn Timbuktu's science manuscripts"), but it will be felt most keenly in sub-Saharan Africa. As Europeans started colonising Africa in the 16th century, the convenient myth arose that its knowledge was mere oral history.
That myth persists even today, but translating Timbuktu's manuscripts will help dissipate it. There are perhaps 700,000 documents still in storage. Safeguarding them is vital to Africa's past - and its future.
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