THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Chapter-1

The power of knowledge

Early humans learnt to communicate by gestures, by speaking and by drawing their feelings on walls.In ancient times,knowledge was passed orally from one person to another. It was difficult to communicate with many persons, as feelings and ideas were not recorded in the written form.

THE STORY OF WRITING

The earliest known form of writing was of writing through pictures.In those days, It was through pictures.In those days, It was understood by all. Many such pictures drawn on the walls have been found.

After a long time, the pictures were replaced by signs and symbols helped in the development of a script, which represented sounds and words. A script is a system of writing and all languages have it.

The Sumerians of Mesopotamia,about 5,000 years ago,were probably the first to develop a script. The Egyptians also developed a script with pictures and symbols, which is now called hieroglyphics. The oldest script in India has been found on the seals of Indus Valley Civilisation and it is also called Harappan seals as you can see in the image.

THE STORY OF NUMBERS

Early humans needed to count the animals they hunted. They used to count with sticks, stones and pebbles. This was a crude method and was not dependable. After some time, early humans started counting with figures, dots, symbols, and fingers. The chinese used an abacus to count numbers. People People in different parts of the world had their own system of numbers. The Hindu-Arabic system is a commonly used system of numbers in the world. It was developed in India and the Arabs took it to other parts of the world. It uses only ten digits, i.e. from 0 to 9.

The ancient gave the concept of Zero or 0. The indians also developed the decimal system. The arabs called the Indian system of numbers 0 to 9 as Hindsa. India has made valueable contributions in the field of mathematics.

THE STORY OF PAPER

Early humans used to write on clay tablets to keep records. In India, The palm leaves were used for writing. The Chinese were probably the first to make paper in the 2nd century AD. The word paper has been derived from the term papyrus.

Papyrus is a kind of reed that grows in the delta of Nile river in Egypt. The ancient Egyptians made paper by cutting the reed into thin films. For about 2,500 years, it was the only writing material available. Today, paper is made from wood pulp, plant fibre and old rags.

THE STORY OF PRINTING

The ancient people used to write on clay tablets, oil palms, etc., with the help of a pen-shaped tool. Earlier the books were copied and written by hand. It was a slow process and the books were expensive. Chinese tried to print books in the 5th Century AD, but were unsuccessful.

The first printing press was developed in Europe in the 15th century. Johannes Gutenberg in Germany developed the printing press. The moulds of letters were called types. Ink was applied on moulds and pressed againist a smooth surface. The first book printed in this way was the Bible. Now it was possible to make more copies of books in less time and also at a lesser cost. The quality of printing has improved over a period of time due to the development of new technology. Nowadays, computers are used for typesetting and colour printing

Image of Johannes Gutenberg

THE STORY OF BRAILLE

Louis Braille developed a special script in AD 1825. It helped the blind to read and was called the Braille script. In this script, the letters of each word are printed in patterns of small dots. These dots are raised on a thick paper. The blind persons can read the dots by running their fingers on them.

A chapter by- Hridyansh Dhruwe...

Multiple Choice

Tick the correct answers.

Who developed the decimal system

• Chinese

• Indians

• Sumerians

Multiple Choice

Which script is the basis of the English alphabet?

• Syrian

• Brahmi

• Latin

• Roman

Multiple Choice

Which was the first book to be printed?

• Gita

• Koran

• Bible

• Vedas

Multiple Choice

What is used in printing Braille script for the blind?

• Raised Lines

• Lines & Dots

• Dots

• Raised dots

Multiple Choice

Who were probably the first to develop a script?

• Sumerians

• Romans

• Indians

• Arabs