Developing Intelligence
Introduction
Man is lucky to have been endowed with exceptional gifts from nature, namely the ability to use his brain and hands. Along with his capacity to speak and remember, these abilities have distinguished him as the most powerful creature on earth. Through accumulating and building upon past knowledge, man has achieved remarkable progress and development, setting himself apart from all other living beings
The Evolution of Writing
Writing is akin to a record, where numerous writers come together to create a wealth of knowledge. This art has proven to be an excellent tool for accumulating knowledge. In ancient times, people’s needs were limited, so communication was not a top priority. They used signs or symbols to keep records of their possessions, drawing pictures such as a circle to represent a sheep or a line to denote a horse. This was the earliest form of writing known as pictography.
In the beginning, man made these symbols as he perceived the things; for example, he drew almost a horse when he drew a symbol for a horse. It was difficult to draw these pictures, so he started to simplify these signs and symbols. He used lines, crosses or circles for different features and then for whole things. For example, he drew one line to say ‘one’ and two lines to say ‘two’. It was also the time he was learning to discover language. He tried to attribute sounds to these pictures and symbols.
Thus, over a long period of time, a system of writing was developed to which he could attribute some sounds. It was during this time that cave art developed. He drew pictures of animals, objects, hunting scenes etc., on the cave walls. This also helped to develop his writing and speech. As man lived in small groups, the members of one group drew specific signs and symbols, which were often different from those of the other group, as there was little interaction between them. This was how different scripts and different languages came into being.
A script is a system of writing; for example, English is the Roman script while Hindi is written in Devnagari script. The earliest script was developed in Mesopotamia. It consisted of pictures and signs made on clay tablets. This script was called cuneiform Script. Even today, there are some scripts which are pictographic, like the Chinese and Korean. In them, a character (word) quite resembles the object it means to say, though the characters have been modified to a great extent. For example, in Chinese, you can see here how the word for ‘girl’ evolved over time.
Some scripts mixed pictures and symbols, like in Egypt. This script is called the hieroglyphics, meaning sacred writing. This script can be seen inscribed on the walls of tombs and temples in Egypt.
A script was developed by the Indus Valley Civilization also. It mainly consisted of animal and human figures, along with some letters and symbols. This script has not been deciphered as yet. With time, the Brahmi script was developed in our country. Many of the modern Indian scripts are based on this script.
The modern Indian scripts are based on sounds and not on pictures, that is, each sound written in the Devanagari script; Urdu is written in the Arabic script while English is written in the Roman script.
The Numbers’ Tale
Numbers are very important in your life. You need them when you want to divide the candies with your friend, or when you want to compare your marks with those of your friends. Early Man too needed the knowledge of numbers, but he did not have it.
When he plucked fruits or tamed animals with his community members, he needed to divide among them. These were like his assets. He also wanted to know that all those animals he possessed were still with him, so he needed to count and keep a record, but he did not know counting.
In the beginning, Early Man started to keep one pebble or twig for each animal. If he had more than one type of animal or thing, he kept different things; for example, a pebble for a goat and a twig for a cow. Soon he thought that he could draw lines or circles on the ground or rocks. Sometimes, he attributed a sign for a group of animals or things, for example, a cross for three or four. He also used his fingers for counting.
He faced problem when he had a large number of things or animals. He gradually developed signs for things, animals and numbers. It took a very long time for him to develop some uniform symbols, like circle, cross, triangle or square etc. Different groups developed different signs and symbols; this was how numbers were written in different ways in different languages.
India developed the system of counting, including the concepts of zero and decimal system. The modern numerals, called Indo-Arabic numbers, were developed in India and spread to other parts of the world through Arab traders. Before the invention of paper, record-keeping was a challenging task.
The Story of Paper
In the beginning, Early Man recorded his signs and symbols on the ground, tree stems or cave walls. But when he travelled, he could not carry them with him.
He did not know how to keep his records with him while moving from place to place. The Egyptians were the first to make paper. They made it from a reed called papyrus. They peeled this reed and pressed it hard to make flat sheets of paper. This paper could not be folded. This problem was overcome by the Chinese about 2,000 years ago.
They developed the art of handmade paper. They soaked rags, jute, straw and bamboo in water for a long time. Then they crushed this mixture and pressed it into paper. The quality was rough yet, but it was a better form of paper.
Today, modern machines are used to manufacture paper. The paper mills use wood pulp, clay and other substances to manufacture paper of different types. The demand for paper has increased manifold after the printing machine was developed.
The Art of Printing
Before the invention of paper, people wrote on tree leaves, tree bark, and animal skins. Writing on these uneven surfaces was challenging, and binding the leaflets together was even more difficult, making books a rare commodity.
With the development of paper and increased demand for books, copying books by hand became the only option. People who did this were called copywriters. However, this was a time-consuming process, resulting in limited numbers of books. Additionally, errors made during copying led to variations in the writings of different copies of a book.
About 1500 years ago, the Chinese made wooden blocks. They cut into these to write letters or make pictures in reverse, inked them and pressed them against the paper. This was how printing came into being. It was a time-consuming and labour-oriented effort.
John Gutenberg of Germany thought of making a device which could make printing easy. In the year 1455, he made movable metal types, which were fixed on the moulds. After inking, they were pressed on paper, this was how an imprint was produced. This resulted in the development of letter-press technology. After this, the printing press was invented by which the moulds were pressed on paper. This enabled a large number of books to be published. The Bible was the first book to be printed. In the beginning, sheepskin was used in place of paper, but later, paper was found to be more convenient.
Earlier, this printing press was operated by manpower, but gradually, time. electricity was introduced. This technique is still used, but with the advent of modern technology, it has declined to a great extent. The printing press was the primary idea on which the idea of modern printing technology is based.
In the beginning of the printing press, it took a long time to produce a few books. With modern printing machines, a very large number of copies in different sizes and colours can be printed in a small.
Computers have revolutionized the printing and design industry. With the help of technologies like laser scanning, electronic and offset printing, books have become easily accessible. The internet is now home to numerous books, including free e-books that authors can publish online for readers. Additionally, people who are unable to read or have little time can listen to audiobooks through electronic devices. These are commonly referred to as talking books.
Script for the blind
The books came into being, but unfortunately, the blind could not enjoy this advancement. Louis Braille, a blind French boy, wanted to read books. He thought how he could read. As blind people feel things by touch, Braille too worked on this concept. In 1820, he developed a script called the Braille script. It consists of raised dots on the paper. In it, different sets of dots represent different numbers and letters. A blind person can read a Braille book by running his fingers along the dots. This proved to be a great gift for the blind people. Presently, a large number of books are published in the Braille Script.