Shorthand On various occasions there is a need to take notes at the same speed at which some one speaks them, this need is met by Shorthand. Shorthand is nothing but an art of writing quickly by making certain special signs which can later be re-read and re-written or typed. Shorthand began in the year 63 B.C. during the Roman Empire where a man called Tiro invented the   system for taking...

The Braille System For quite some time there was no system of teaching the blind how the read, it was only in the year 1517 that as system of engraving letters on blocks was started so that blind persons could understand them by touching them. Subsequent to this various other systems wore also developed but they were not effective because though a blind person could read them, he could not write...

Sign Language For thousands of years people who were partially or fully deaf were looked down upon and treated as outcasts. On occasions they were also considered insane and locked up in asylums. In the sixteenth century an Italian doctor took upon himself the task of developing a method to teach deaf mutes by using certain characters. Research carried out by him helped in developing the ‘finger alphabets’. These were successfully...

Typewriter The first patent for a typewriter was given to a Englishman called Henry Mill in the year 1714 though it was never manufactured commercially, because in those days typewriters were used only as devices to help the blind. In the year 1829 William Burt in America was given a patent for his invention called the ‘Typographer’ and in the year 1843 Charles Thurber, an American, made a machine but it...

The First Libraries The first libraries are known to have existed during the Mesopotamian civilisation over 8000 years ago. The Mesopotamians use to write on wet clay tablets, by making wedge shaped marks on them, these tablets were then baked and preserved. During archaeological excavations a large number of these tablets have been uncovered from temple and palace sites. The Egyptians also had large libraries, under the charge of priests, with...

The First Books Rolls of paper or papyrus were the predecessors of books and the first books appeared only in the middle ages. In the middle of the 5th century, parchment made of goat and sheep skin with writing on one side was cut to a uniform size and bound together with pieces of leather to form the first books. This manner of making books underwent a change in the middle...

The First Schools Our modern schools are the successors of the ancient Roman and Greek schools. Initially in Greece the teachers taught only a single pupil at a time in fact the singular teacher and pupil relationship existed elsewhere in the world as well. Over a period of time these teachers began to hold teaching classes where more than one pupil was taught at the same time. As a result of...

Mathematics It is difficult to imagine our modern way of life without mathematics, imagine what would happen if we could not measure things or calculate amounts. We would not be able to even weigh the vegetables we would like to buy or for that matter calculate the price payable for them. The need to measure how long or how much or how many is so great in our daily life that...