Ink is a semi liquid, solid or paste that contains pigments and or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Historically, ink is typically used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill.
Chinese inks can be traced back to the 18th century BC, however evidence for the earliest Chinese ink similar to modern ink sticks, did not appear until around 256 BC.
A form of ink was used in India
The early Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans used ink composed of soot, glue, and water. It is of significance that these handwriting inks used during that era could not adhere to printing surfaces without creating blurs.
Until just a few years ago, consumers had very little interest in ink other than refills for their fountain pens. However they became a novelty as the disposable ball point pen, which was first patented in 1888, took over the market place. The introduction of home computing in 1977 by way of the personal computer, led to home printing and the use of the printing cartridge which is clearly an improvement to the type writer, fountain pen, pencil, etc. As a result, buying ink in the form of a “printer cartridge” has become a part of the everyday shopping experience, similar to buying a bottle of ink less than fifty years ago.
Paper is a material with numerous uses. The most common use is for writing or printing upon; it is also used as a packaging material; used as a cleaning product, in a number of home, industrial and construction processes; and if you can believe it; occasionally as a food ingredient, particularly in Asian cultures.
The word paper originates from the Greek term for the ancient Egyptian writing material called “papyrus” which was derived from plants of the same name.
Generally, paper is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets. Paper, and the pulp papermaking process, was developed yet again, in China
Paper was not produced in Europe until in the 13th century. The Europeans were apparently content with the marketing arrangements which provided paper produced by the Chinese.
Industrial production of paper in the early 19th century in North America and Europe caused significant cultural changes worldwide, helping to expedite the cheap exchange of information in the form of books, letters, and newspapers.
Aside from creating documents for communication, as I’ve said, paper is a product / substance with many uses. Here are a few examples :
- To represent a value: paper money, bank note, checks, voucher or ticket …
- For storing information: book, notebook, magazine, newspaper, art, letter …
- For packaging: corrugated boxes, paper bags, envelopes, wrapping tissue, wrapping paper …
- For Cleaning: toilet paper, handkerchiefs, paper towels, facial tissue …
- For construction: machete, origami (paper folding art), construction paper (sugar paper), and paper airplanes …
- Other uses: emery paper, sandpaper, blotting paper, electrical insulation paper, filter paper, wallpaper, cat litter, paper clothing, food additive (edible rice paper)
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Feel free to list some additional uses of your own, just place them in the comments section below.
Sources …
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