Scientists Say Dante's Inferno Described an Asteroid Impact 500 Years Before Modern Science Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy , has been interpreted in various ways over the centuries.
Scholars have long debated the allegorical descriptions of Hell and Purgatory in his work.
A recent study by Timothy Burbery offers a provocative interpretation: Dante may have envisioned an asteroid impact with devastating consequences 500 years before modern science could comprehend such events.