Contents of the Doomsday Chest

The contents of a Doomsday Chest will include stainless steel or titanium sheets, laser etched with an archive of the fundamentals of human knowledge.

Each sheet would be carved, front and back, in the five most widely spoken languages of the 21st Century; Mandarin, Spanish, English, Arabic and Hindi. To aid in their translation, aRosetta Disc style object would also embedded in the Chest, providing easy visual translation between the "key" languages and over 2,600 other languages.

The level of information on each sheet would be confined to advanced high school or beginning university level; appropriate for the foundations of each discipline but allowing further elaboration and advancement by the reader. Images, text, diagrams, and equations would also included. The size of each sheet will vary depending on the dimensions of the Chest, but is envisioned to be approximately the size of a fully unfolded newspaper broadsheet (75 x 60 cm)

Etched sheets will be removable for examination and copying, yet will be bound to the Chest through a binding mechanism to prevent theft or loss over time. Each sheet will also be etched to sufficient relief allowing for etching or each transcription of a sheet's contents.

Contents of the box will include, at a minimum, the following subjects:

• Virology
• Chemistry
• Astronomy
• Engineering
• Architecture
• Geometry
• Algebra
• Calculus
• Linguistics
• Economics
• Medicine
• Biology
• Agriculture
• Sanitation
• Water supply
• Philosophy
• Art history
• Design
• Music theory
• History (chronological)
• Mythology (classic)
• Literature of the world (classics, key languages)
• Aeronautics
• Navigation
• Measurement and surveying
• Cartography and maps of the world
• Acoustics
• Optics
• Energy production
• Printing and paper making
• Telecommunications
• Electricity and wiring
• Scale plans and drawings for basic devices and engines

A list of the media, dimensions, and list of subjects to be covered on the sheets that go into the doomsday chests.