The first object I've decided to write about is the classic school equipment, the pencil.
http://blogs-images.forbes.com/rogerkay/files/2011/03/pencil1.jpg
Now we all know what the purpose of a pencil is. The inside of pencils are made of graphite which are used to mark a trace on a sheet of paper in order to write letters, make drawings, etc. As young children, this was one of our main tools of learning in helping us write. But, how did this such simple object come to exist. This is the time where we look into its history.
The first form of writing instrument dates back thousands of years ago when cavemen used sharp stones to make scratches on the walls of a cave. However, we are the interested in the first pencil whose origin dates back to 1565. In Borrowdale, in the Cumberland hills of England, a large deposit of a grey-black glistening substance was discovered. This substance had the same colour as lead, it was greasy, soft and brittle and kept leaving stains. This substance was graphite, but it was first called black-lead (In fact, the substance was not called graphite until the 18th century when Swedish chemist, Karl Wilhelm Scheele, identified it to be like a crystallised form of carbon. He named the substance "graphite" after the Greek word for writing, "Graphein"), and it was seen as more convenient for writing and drawing instead of the previously used ink and pen. And, this was when graphite was proved to be a world-changing and extremely valuable material in the world.
Borrowdale, the birth place of the pencil
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Borrowdale_-_Rosthwaite.jpg
Despite the usefulness of graphite, it was too brittle to be carried. It therefore needed some holder, and after several attempts, the method of inserting the graphite into hollowed-out wooden sticks was seen to be the best way in holding the pencil. And this is how the wood-cased pencil, the form of pencil we use today, was created.
This is the oldest known wood cased pencil
http://www.faber-castell.ie/bausteine.net/img/showimg.aspx?biid=16561&domid=1010
Although the first mass-produced pencils took place in Nuremberg, Germany in 1761 by Kaspar Fabar, the most significant form of pencil mass production was in 1839 by Lothan Fabar, his grand-son. It was him who mechanised production and formed pencils in large amounts yet in good quality using water power, then later steam power. It was him who created the hexagonal shape for the pencil and gave different pencils different hardnesses. And it was also him, and his grand-father, who originated the company which operates today, Faber-Castell, one of the world's largest makers for pencils.
Throughout 1565 until up to today, the pencil has been altered many times in order to become more comfortable in the user's hand and to become easier to use. However, the event that truly helped the world positively was the accidental finding of large amounts of graphite in Borrowdale. Graphite has been truly beneficial to human kind in not only teaching and expressing arts through pencils but also for many other uses such as batteries and steelmaking. But despite the importance of pencils today, I also think to myself, "Will pencils still be needed in the future?' as I type up the end of this entry.
http://www.pencils.com/blog/pencil-history/
http://www.faber-castell.ie/34507/All-About-Pencils/Pencils-A-History/default_news.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil#cite_note-norgate-4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa100197.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment