Paper and the Future

In modern day culture we often take for granted all the simple things we have in life. Festivities with fireworks, knowing where we are in the world, or even the simplest object like paper. At first thought, paper isn't much to us. A thing to write on, yes, but we do much of our writing on technology now a days in the form of typing. But then you think, what is made of paper, and you relive that there are things you couldn't live without. Paintings, napkins, paper towels, and even toilet paper. So these are all valid and important roles paper plays in our lives, but if you really think, without paper, say goodbye to all advancements in technology. Paper aloud us to store ideas, pass on knowledge, and get to where we are at with smart phones, tablets computers, and much much more. Though where was paper first made, who started it all? For that answer we look to the west, to China.

China stands tall in history with the title of "the Four Great Inventions." These being paper, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. The word "paper" come from the word "papyrus." It was around 2,200 BC when Egyptians found that a reed called papyrus could be formed into a writing surface by stacking thin, water soaked strips and then pounding these strips into a sheet. Though this papyrus, wasn't the paper we know of today, it was very hard to write on, and on top of that, papyrus was very expensive. Paper as we know it was invented in China at about 105 AD. The paper made back then is practically identical to what we have today, which is why it is considered the true birth of paper.

The person that discovered how paper can be made is assumed to be Chai Lun, the head of a royal workshop in 2nd century China, but recent discoveries show that paper was being used in China two hundred years before Chai Lun. Even though he might not have been the start of it, Chai Lun's paper recipe is very close to what we still use today. The ingredients being a variety of fibrous materials, including rope pieces, old fishing nets, rags, bamboo fibers and tree bark. Another very important to paper was birch leaves. The mucilage, a substance that is extracted as a gelatinous solution from plant materials, from birch leaves is used to strengthen the paper, also making it more even and smooth. Then the fibrous material that was softened by water, then was beaten into a pulp. Adding the birch leave mucilage to the pulp, then the pulp was filtered through big strainer made of cloth. This process took the big chunks of fibers out of the mix. Next, with a drying process, the paper hardens and it is complete.

This process used so long ago is still used today. Since then paper has been unchanged and brought us our future faster than ever before. Graphs show our acceleration in technology increases more and more each year. Then came computers and we continue to grow in new advancements in technology, but it all leads back to one country, and one person wanting a change.