Who Invented Paper?
Ts’ai-Lun is the first person to have come up with modern paper. He presented his invention to the Chinese emperor in 105AD. The Egyptians had been using paper earlier but it is the Chinese paper that resembles the modern paper more. Even the Chinese methods of manufacturing paper were more like the modern ones, that is, they would soak plant fibers in water and beat it into a sludge which was then dried in a careful manner to produce paper.
Paper also originated in Egypt but their paper was of relatively inferior quality and it was more like peeled off pieces of wood than real paper. This Egyptian paper was called papyrus because it was made from the beaten strips of papyrus plants. The Mayans are also known to have developed their own paper working independently of the rest of the world.
Charles Fenerty was the first person to use wood pulp to produce paper but he never patented his invention. The first patent was given to two Englishmen, Healey and Allen, in 1856 for ‘pleated paper’ which was then used to produce men’s hats. Paper production dramatically increased during the Industrial Revolution and moreover, steam-powered machines made paper cheaper to produce. Although the use of wood pulp makes superb quality paper, it also is a grave concern for the environmentalists. Therefore efforts are being on to develop artificial raw materials which can replace wood.
Category: Inventions, Technology