The Roots & Weeds of Paper

We all use paper for many things we do everyday like drawing, reading, writing etc., but do you know the origins of this useful object? Before paper was invented people used leaves of large trees like banana trees. They also used skins of animals to write on. In some places people like the Incas used to record information by tying different knots like the Romans who used to write on stone tablets or like in India where they used to write on the barks of trees. But unfortunately, these forms of writing were slow and did not last for long. So, this would have been the reason that people would have wanted to have a more reliable source for recording information.

Illustration by- Curiologist

The first people to make paper were the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians used a weed called papyrus that grew on the banks of the river Nile. They used to soak the papyrus, to soften it and then mashed it. They then made the mashed papyrus into sheets by pushing the mush together and then let it dry. Then they cut the dried sheets of papyrus into strips. Later they piled the strips to form a thick paper. The most amazing thing about papyrus is that some sheets have survived till today! And the ancient Library of Alexandria had about 40,000 to 400,000 scrolls of papyrus! At about the same time the Chinese too were making paper. The Chinese had a similar method of making it. The Chinese made paper by boiling raw plant fibre till it turned to a mush. Then the mush was spread on a screen in a wooden frame and soaked in water. When the frame was lifted out of water to be dried only a thin layer of mush was left. When the film dried, it became a sheet of paper.

Illustration by- My father

Today paper is made by machines in factories at a high speed. The process too is different. In modern factories paper is made by turning tree fibres into pulp and when it dries it becomes paper. This is how paper is made today. I hope that now that you know how paper is made this post may come to your mind the next time you are drawing, writing, or reading.