Page 66 - SST Class 05

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 A Chinese man making paper

When the art of writing evolved and paper was yet to Know It!
be made, people wrote texts on tree leaves, tree bark
v Paper is made from wood pulp,
and animal skins. It was a difficult task to write on the
for which trees are cut down.
uneven surface, and still more difficult to bind leaflets
Deforestation is a major cause
together. This made books a rare commodity. for climate change, so we should
When paper came to be developed and more people try to reduce the use of paper as
much as we can.
wanted copies of a book, there was no way but to copy
books by hand. These people were called copywriters.
Know It! This copying required much time, so the number of
books was very limited. Moreover, the copywriters
v Many of our ancient Sanskrit
texts were written on tree bark, often committed errors in copying, so different copies
which have survived to date. of a book had variations in writings.

John Gutenberg A letter-press machine A modern printing machine

66 Contemporary Social Science-5