In 1799, a young French lieutenant named Pierre-François-Xavier Bouchard made one of the greatest discoveries of all time, only to lose it two years later to the British.1 His discovery was neither golden nor bejeweled. However, it has mesmerized kings and scholars, generals and diplomats, readers and writers, for centuries. It is also a fine example of user experience design.
Bouchard’s discovery resided in the Egyptian port city known today as Rashid, located nearly 2,000 miles from his birthplace in Orgelet, France. Rashid had long been a desirable center of ...
