Max Chapnick read a line in Louisa May Alcott's journal that pointed to one of her stories, but it turned out to be a dead end. Then, he had an idea. He went back to the archives and searched for the title of the story. He turned up an unexpected result: a story written by E.A. Gould, with characteristics that linked it easily to Louisa May Alcott.

He investigated further and discovered more works by E.A. Gould, and has since used computers to analyze the style and see if it matches Alcott's other works--with mixed results. What he comes to understand, through this process of discovery, is about much more than how to attribute a given story to a particular author. It's about learning to live with uncertainty as scholars, how to make archival research more accessible, and the worthwhile pursuit of research for its own sake.