The word paper comes from the Greek term for the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was formed from beaten strips of papyrus plants. Papyrus was produced as early as 3000 BC in Egypt, and sold to ancient Greece and Rome. The establishment of Great library at Alexandria put a drain on the supply of Papyrus, so According to the Roman Varro, Pliny's Natural History records (xiii.21), parchment was invented under the patronage of Eumenes of Pergamum, to build his rival libray at Permagum. parchment or vellum, made of processed sheepskin or calfskin, replaced papyrus, as the papyrus plant requires subtropical conditions to grow.
In China, documents were ordinarily written on bone or bamboo, making them very heavy and awkward to transport. Silk was sometimes used, but was normally too expensive to consider. Indeed, most of the above materials were rare and costly. While the Chinese court official Cai Lun is widely regarded to have first described the modern method of papermaking (inspired from wasps and bees) from wood pulp in AD 105, the 2006 discovery of specimens bearing written characters in north-west China's Gansu province suggest that paper was in use by the ancient Chinese military more than 100 years before Cai in 8 BCE [1]. Archæologically however, true paper without writing has been excavated in China dating from the 2nd-century BCE.
In America, archaeological evidence indicates that paper was invented by the Mayas no later than the 5th century AD.[1] Called Amatl, it was in widespread use among Mesoamerican cultures until the Spanish conquest. In small quantities, traditional Maya papermaking techniques are still practiced today.
Paper is considered to be one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. It spread slowly outside of China; other East Asian cultures, even after seeing paper, could not figure out how to make it themselves. Instruction in the manufacturing process was required, and the Chinese were reluctant to share their secrets. The paper was thin and translucent, not like modern western paper, and thus only written on one side. Books were invented in India, of Palm leaves (where we derive the name leaf for a sheet of a book). The technology was first transferred to Korea in 604 and then imported to Japan by a Buddhist priest, Dam Jing (曇徴) from Goguryeo, around 610, where fibres (called bast) from the mulberry tree were used.
After further commercial trading and the defeat of the Chinese in the Battle of Talas, the invention spread to the Middle East, Production was started in Baghdad, where the arabs invented a method to make a thicker sheet of paper.
To begin, Johannes Gutenberg was born 1395, in Mainz, Germany. He started experimenting with printing by 1438. He obtained backing in 1450 from the financier Johann Fust, whose impatience and other factors led to Gutenberg's loss of his establishment to Fust in 1455. Gutenberg's masterpiece, and the first book ever printed from movable type, is the “Forty-Two-Line” Bible, completed no later than 1455" (http://www.biography.com)". The first most important consequence of the printing press is that it chang...
Certainly this element is crucial in all our lives. From money to facial tissues to news to playing cards, paper is a vital organ of the body politic. And I, as a student, laden with schoolwork (and college application forms), should naturally expect to be particularly prone. But, for me, paper goes even beyond this role: Virtually all of my favorite activities are paper-based. I compose music, poetry, and prose. I do mathematics, with massive scratchwork as a by-product. I solve cryptic crosswords. Last year, I was involved in CX debate, which may be cynically but not inaccurately said to consist essentially of reading prepared pieces of paper in a strategically determined order. To me, paper is the natural medium for connecting the mind — whether in its imaginative, mechanical, or emotive capacity — with the physical world. Small wonder, than, that I find I express myself more effectively in writing than in speech, or that, on my habitual multiple-hour walks, I often carry blank paper and pens to jot down any arbitrary thoughts that might seem worthy of retention.
In 105 CE a man named Cai Lun during the Eastern Han Dynasty invented the paper from worn fishnet, bark and cloth. These materials were used because they could be easily found at a low price compared to Hemp fiber and silk. Hemp fiber and silk were used at first but then the Chinese realized there are greater uses for this material. Therefore they started to use the worn fishnet, bark and
Before the invention of the printing press, any writing done, whether it was a book, or drawing, or copies of the Bible had to be completed painstakingly by the hand. Every letter, every word, every sentence, had to be written down by hand. It took almost over an entire year to write a single book. In addition to the large amount of time spent, people often made mistakes delaying the publishing of the book. The effects of these scarce, handwritten copies were that education and learning was very limited. Desperate for fame and money, German Johannes Gutenberg changed all of that. In 1450, Gutenberg created the first ever printing press, built and improved existing printing methods. Soon, by the 1500’s printing shops were located everywhere in the major cities of Europe. People had a better way of spreading ideas and findings of new lands during the Age of Exploration, the period of time when Europeans began exploring the world by sea in search of new discoveries, trade routes, and goods found in other countries. The Age of Exploration was affected by the printing press more than the Protestant Reformation was, because it helped publicize recent findings, inspiring and
Many other early civilisations developed wicked candles with the use of waxes extracted from various plants and insects. The Chinese made candles from moulded paper tubes, using a rolled rice paper for the wick and wax taken from seeds and indigenous insects. The Japanese also made candles from waxes derived from tree nuts, while the Indians made candle waxes by boiling the fruit of the cinnamon tree.
"Four Inventions of Ancient China: Paper Making, Gunpowder, Printing, Compass." Four Inventions of Ancient China: Paper Making, Gunpowder, Printing, Compass. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
Mayan writing is one of the most beautiful but highly complex and difficult scripts in the world. It is a system that uses pictographs and phonetic or syllabic elements. The Maya used this sophisticated style to carve symbols into stone. The most common place for writing was the perishable books they made from bark paper, coated with lime to make a fresh white surface. These books were screen-folded and bound with wood and deer hide. They were referred to as codices, however only four remain today because of their perishable nature and Spanish book burning. The Maya writing system was one of the greatest achievements of their civilization.
The most distinctive features of Chinese civilization were in the Song period. This was the scholar-official class certified through highly competitive civil service examinations. These elite were better educated than others in Chinese history. Aristocratic habits and prejudices largely disappeared when examination system was fully developed. This system came to be considered the normal ladder to success. The invention of printing should be given a little credit. The art of carving words and pictures into wooden blocks was developed by Tang craftsmen. They would ink the blocks then press paper onto them. An entire page of text and illustrations was held on each block. In the eleventh century movable type, on piece of type for each character, was invented. In China whole-block printing was cheaper. The spread of literacy was
Landes also portrays the supposed innovative manner in which Europe dealt with Chinese inventions. Despite printing having already been invented in China, the ideographic form of block printing limited distribution of publication, sugge...
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440 to multiply written documents easily, making books cheaper and more nationally available. In 1798, Alois Senefelder invented Lithography to copy graphical designs, developing the culture of advertising (wet-canvas, no given date, Jules Cheret: the father of the modern poster). Ho...
The invention of the printing press was one of the most useful technologies in history because it helped spread ideas, produced books, and greatly improved the economy. Johannes Gutenberg, who was a German goldsmith, developed the printing press “in Mainz, Germany between 1446 and 1450” (Ditttmar, 1133). The printing press was made to print books, newspapers, and flyers. The machine was made from wood and was based off screw presses, that worked with inked movable type heads that allowed the paper to be quickly and efficiently pressed with letters. The type head was made by pouring lead-tin alloy into a hand mold, along a rectangular stalk.
In my project I attempted to write without the assistance of normal technologies that are often taken for granted. It proved a difficult undertaking. Before beginning to write I had to find something to write on. As I searched my house and yard I realized that technology-free materials are difficult to find. I eventually found a birch log by the fireplace, which was once used by Native Americans for the purpose of writing. After tearing off the bark, and shaking off the dirt I had my “paper.” The hardest part was still not over; I needed to find a replacement for the normal writing aid of a pencil or pen. I replaced ink with honey and traded a pen for a feather. My next step was the very slow process of streaking honey on the bark to form words. The honey was the same color as the birch and blended in with the wood. To f...
As a beginning of music distribution and sharing between people, one could take an invention of a printing press in around 1450. The device was able of printing ink onto a print medium, which in Europe is credited to the printer and goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg. This invention could be taken as a starting point notes reproduction in paper form. However only in around 1800s the print media, including the sheet music was getting produced for wider audience.
The basic process of making paper has not changed in more than 2000 years. It involves two stages: the breaking up of raw materials in water to make a suspension of individual fibbers and the formation of felted sheets by spreading this suspension on a porous surface, to drain excess water. The essential steps of papermaking by machine are identical with those of hand papermaking just much more complex. The first step in machine papermaking is the preparation of the raw material. For centuries, the main raw materials used in papermaking were cotton and linen fibbers obtained from rags. Today more than 95 percent of paper is made from wood cellulose. Wood is used mainly for the cheapest grades of paper, such as newsprint. Cotton and linen fibbers are still used for high quality writing and artist’s papers. Many kinds of wood can be used such as aspen, beach, birch fir, gum, hemlock, oak, pine, and spruce.
In locations with more water and vegetation, it comes from the papyrus plant. But in either climate, something was needed to stain the language on this new device. That was the first pen. The Dawn of Pen-kind As early as 2,800 years before Christ, the pen was beginning to appear as a writing implement in the world. Its first form was that of a dried reed, its tip cut at an angle so to create a line of ink instead of a blot.