EOTO Technology (Blog #5)

The History of Paper

Before the existence of paper many individuals that walked this earth communicated on tree barks, cave walls and marked on papyrus and or clay. An invention that has stood it worthiness since the dawn of its creation is paper. Paper has been used for centuries since 2000 B.C. Its origin is from the papyrus plant cultivated in Egypt.
    About 2000 years ago inventors in China took the next step in communication. Creating cloth sheets to record writing and drawings. This was the birth of paper as we know it today. Ts'ai Lun was a the first to make paper a Chinese court official. What Ts’ai most likely mixed to create paper was mixed mulberry bark, hemp, and rags with water, mashed into a pulp, pressed out the liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun.
    Europe was one of the later regions to obtain the process of paper making. The secret of paper making was held onto in Chine for about 300 years until it reached the middle east then another 500 years to reach Europe. Spain was the first European country to develop the paper mill soon after paper mills were beginning to pop-up all-over Europe. The paper mills made it easier to make paper and produce copious amounts of it. This led to the expansion of printing important books like the bible and legal document.
In 1690, the first U.S paper mill was built in Pennsylvania. The mills in the Americas used the Chinese method of shredding old rags and clothes into individual fibers to make paper. But as the demand for paper grew, mills changed to using fibers from trees. This was due to wood was less expensive and more abundant than cloth. 
    Granted this innovation has changed the world for the better by being able to right and keep important events documented along with drawings and books there is a downfall to it. The aspect of deforestation is detrimental to the earth’s climate causing a reconsideration and advocacy to save on paper and not waste. The invention of computers and digitalization of keeping documents is a main step forward out of using paper.