The World of Growing Knowledge

Among all the living things, only man possesses the power to understand. Man's need to communicate with each other has always been strong. The early man had no language to communicate so he used to make sounds like those of animals. However, man was more intelligent than other animals so he managed to make some sounds which he could associate with particular expressions. Later, these sound symbols became his words and the art of speaking developed. Initially, man was able to pass on his ideas through sound symbols as the art of writing was not developed. Gradually, he started drawing some pictures on the walls of his cave and thus began a new era of knowledge. With the advancement of society, communication techniques also improved. Man passed on this knowledge from one generation to another orally. Gradually, knowledge increased so much that it became difficult for him to memorise it, hence the art of writing was developed. The various stages in the development of writing and communication make for an interesting study.

The Story of Writing - It has been the tradition that earlier generation passes on its knowledge to the next generation. In early times, it was done orally as people did not know how to write. Soon it became difficult to remember each and everything, so they started writing. The earliest form of writing was in the form of pictures. This form of expressing ideas through drawings was simple and easy to understand. Such a system of writing, in which pictures and symbols were used to represent a word, is called Hieroglyphics. It was used in Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

Some modern scripts used in China, Korea and Japan have evolved from pictorial scripts. It was, each object, a picture had to be drawn. These scripts  are difficult to read and write. One has to  remember about 12,000 picture symbols to read a book written in pictorial language. 

Gradually, the pictures were replaced by easy symbols. The Sumerians were the first people to introduce a system of writing. They scratched some symbols on earthen slates with a sharp knife. These were triangular in shape. Later on, these symbols developed into alphabet and certain pictures were used to represent certain words. This writing is called Cuneiform. 

In India, the oldest scripts have been found on the seals of the Indus Valley Civilization. These scripts have not been deciphered yet. Later, Brahmi, Kharosthi and other scripts came into use. Brahmi script is the earliest script which has been deciphered among the ancient scripts of India. This script is used on the pillars and stones used by Ashoka to spread his message of peace to the people. 

Most Indian scripts have been derived from the Brahmi script. The national language of our country, Hindi, which is in Devanagari script also comes from the ancient Brahmi script. Devanagari script is based on sound. Each letter represents a different sound. All Indian scripts have this special feature that they are written as they are pronounced. In India, Arabic, Persian and Urdu scripts are also used.

The Story of Numbers - The early man was a hunter. After hunting many animals, he was not only interested in identifying the animals but also counting their numbers. Initially, he used small pebbles, stones, sticks or his fingers for this purpose. Later, he started indicating the numbers by drawing pictures. He would draw as many animals as he saw. Later, he would draw the picture of an animal and place as many dots or lines around the picture as animals he had hunted. 

When man started taming animals like dogs, sheep, cows, goat, etc, it became all the more important that he took an account of all the animals he had. He made marks with a knife on a stick, bark of a tree, etc to know the number of animals he had. The concept of zero and the decimal system was introduced by India to the world. The international system of numbers is also based on the Indian system. The Arabs adopted the Indian numerals and called them Hindsa, which means 'from India'. That is why the numbers, now in everyday use, are called Hindu-Arabic numerals.

The Story of Paper - After learning the art of writing a script or numbers, people were left wondering as to how to present this writing to one and all. In earlier times, clay, leaves or bark of trees were used to write. For several thousand years, the Babylonians and Assyrians used clay tablets for writing their numbers and scripts. A sharp pointed rod was used to write on these tablets while they were still wet. Then they were baked to preserve the writing.

The Egyptians made the first paper. It was made from a grass-like aquatic plant called papyrus. Papyrus grows in the Nile Delta in plenty. The thick stems of the papyrus were cut into long thin strips and laid side-by-side, their edges overlapping slightly. The other strips were placed across them. They were then stuck together using wheat flour paste. The sheets were rolled flat and dried in the sun. The word 'paper' has been derived from papyrus. 

The art of making paper began in China more than 2,000 years ago. As the demand for paper grew fast, the paper was made in large quantities. Today, all the paper used is made from wood pulp mixed with China clay and other substances. The mixture is flattened and pressed to make paper. Gradually, the art of making paper has developed and now we have large paper mills manufacturing various types of paper.

The manufacturing of paper on such a large scale leads to cutting of trees in large numbers. Therefore, it becomes our duty to save the trees by using paper rationally. These days, recycled paper is also available which is economic, handy and environment-friendly.

Printing - Before the art of printing was developed, all the books were written and compiled painstakingly by hand. It was a very slow process. As a result, books were few and quite costly. Thus, knowledge could not spread easily and only a few number of people had access to these books. The art of printing was developed in China around the year 500 CE. They used blocks of wood to carve pictures on their surface. The blocks were then inked and pressed down on paper. At that time, this type of printing was not very popular becatr of the difficult script. 

It was Johann Gutenberg of Germany who invented the first printing press in 1455. He used lead moulds of the alphabets. He made hundreds of moulds of each letter. These letters could be arranged to make words. After this, ink was applied on the letter mould and this mould was pressed with hand on a smooth surface or paper. These moulds could be reset and reused afterwards to print some other matter. The Gutenberg Bible was the first book to be printed in this method. It was printed on sheepskin and not on the paper which we use today. The printing press has brought about a revolution in the field of writing. It is now possible to produce more and more books at very low cost and at very large scale.

The modern printing processes use computers to publish colourful magazines, newspapers and books in any number. We can now print even without a press. This is called DTP (Desktop Publishing). Printing has enabled us to bring out books in large number. It has also made preservation and spreading of knowledge possible. 

Braille Script - In 1829, Louis Braille developed a special script for the people who cannot see. It is called the Braille script in his honour. The letters in this script are formed by raised dots on thick paper. He used six raised dots to represent the alphabet and all the numbers.

People who cannot see, read the script by running their fingers along the dots. The different positions of dots represent different letters. Today, audio cassettes are also available for students unable to see. These cassettes are called 'Talking Books'. Visually challenged students can use them to study books. Even Braille typewriters are available these days. All these things have proved very useful in the education of the people who cannot see. 

Education - Education plays an important part in the development of a child's personality. Knowledge comes from education. For the progress of a family, a society and a country, it is important to impart education to all the people. India has always been an important centre for learning. One of the world's first universities, the Nalanda University was established in India. Education is very important for the progress and development of a nation. No progress is possible if the people of that country are illiterate. Our government has started many literacy programmes which aim at providing better education for the people. 

• Adult education and free education for children up to primary level have been the main aim of the government in order to expand the horizon of literacy in our country. 
• The literacy programme based on the slogan 'Each One Teach One' is one such step in the direction of promoting education in our society. 
• The Total Literacy Campaign is the principal programme for eradication of illiteracy. 
• The centrally sponsored District Primary Education Programme launched in 1994, has so far opened more than 1,60,000 new schools.
• One of the most popular schemes adopted to attract children to schools is the Mid-day Meals Programme launched in 1995.
• The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the age group of 6-14 years attend school and complete eight years of schooling.

The World of Growing Knowledge

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