Scientific methods relating to historical and archeological discovery are immensely important, this article in particular highlights something that may indicate many other hisorical letters/documents may contain previously missed information that while likely mostly mundane minutae, a shining example could alter how we understand history and the interplay of historical figures.

That said it seems this just referencing a less common use of a specific technology to solve a problem which I suppose is appropriate

I'd put that very differently. Some are interested in what they have, others in what they do, the rest in how they do. And, I don't think that people on HN are predominantly interested in things. I think they're above all interested in acts.

The division is long established in the scientific lit - just highlighting it exists.

I find it unlikely anyone was expecting to find some revelatory details in the letters between Marie Antoinette and her alleged lover. They just wanted to know more about her intimate affairs.

The article on Ars is pretty shit at conveying that - you have to get to the 7th paragraph for any technical details to come up - but that’s an(other) indictment of Ms. Oulette, not the research team.

>So when Fabien Pottier and several colleagues at the Museum of Natural History's Research Center for the Conservation of Collections (CRCC) took on the task of uncovering the censored portions of letters between Marie Antoinette and von Fersen, they naturally turned to similar techniques.

That doesn't sound like developing the method was their primary goal.

It's not like society is bound to work on one thing at a time...

And I didn't say uninteresting. The authour of the letters purposefully removed the lines from the historical record for modesty's sake. It's similar to digging through a celebrity's trash to find salacious gossip.

How to know before finding out?

If you fail to see the value of how this novel way can be used for other letters beyond this initial test case, then there's not much else to say I feel

This initial test case based on a technique already in practice on other sources of writing? None of my posts have dismissed the technology, just it's use in this case.

The bonds between Swedish and French nobility during this time period are interesting. About twenty years after these events, one of Napoleon's marshals was offered the Swedish crown and became king of Sweden.

The article mentions the process being used on Egyptian papyrus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. There are countless other recovered bits of parchment that the process could be used on from around the world, possibly uncovering more primary sources about antiquity.

Or just like any other of von Fersen's letters would probably be more illuminating about French Swedish relations, though I don't know if they were censored. His fondness of Antoinette was already known.

My argument was never that Antoinette deserves some special privacy, so changing the subject of the act is not a strawman. Why should people enjoy someone else's private correspondence but not yours?

I'm not so selfish and conceited that I pretend to still care about things after death, lol.