[Mb-civic] Scientific sleuth cracks code to $54, 000 treasure - Boston Globe

[William Swiggard]

Scientific sleuth cracks code to $54,000 treasure
BU professor makes sparkling discovery

By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff  |  September 22, 2005

Once there was a brain scientist whose knowledge was transformed into 
glittering diamonds.

This is no fairy tale. The scientist's name is David Somers, and he is a 
psychology professor at Boston University. Helped by his background in 
psychology research, he recently solved a puzzle that -- according to an 
official announcement scheduled for today -- yielded him a 
diamond-encrusted beetle worth $54,000.

He also got to have the kind of treasure-hunting, tree-climbing 
adventure in South Dakota's Badlands that many 40-year-olds have long 
since stopped dreaming about. And with his best friend, to boot.

The story begins with a puzzle book called ''A Treasure's Trove," which 
has sold more than half a million copies since it was published last 
November. Part of a genre known as armchair treasure hunting, its 
fairy-filled narrative contained clues leading to 12 real-life jewels, 
together worth more than $1 million, donated by the author.

Somers, who lives in Arlington, bought the book last winter to share 
with his three daughters -- Juliana, 10, Anika, 8, and Ellie, 6 -- and 
they spent hours trying to crack the codes hidden in the text and lavish 
illustrations. The family had a lot of company among the book's other 
fans, many of whom shared their progress in forums online.

By this spring, puzzlers began finding the gold tokens that could be 
redeemed for the jewels. One by one the tokens were tracked down, all 
discovered in tree knotholes in public parks around the country, until 
only one jewel was left: a diamond-encrusted beetle.

On a July weekend when he was also completing his tenure application, 
Somers focused on the puzzle in his spare time and tried to draw 
strategy from the basic psychology class that he teaches each year.

''The trick is often just figuring out what the right problem to solve 
is," he said. And in this case, he said, it was: ''How do you approach 
this puzzle and get inside the head of the puzzler? What could I do to 
simplify?"

The solution came to him after a night's sleep and a morning's coffee -- 
which bears out another of his course's teachings: that sleep may not 
provide inspiration, but it often offers a fresh start.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2005/09/22/scientific_sleuth_cracks_code_to_54000_treasure/
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