Category Science & Technology

Historical documents and excavations have discovered that stained glass was around as far back as the 12th century. These are true stained glass windows which tell a pictorial story and are considered to be the invention of Western Europe.

Religious writings dating as far back as 240 AD mention the existence of tinted glass in windows of the early Christian basilicas (churches).

Stained glass windows of medieval times were basic in their manufacture. The window opening was filled with thin sheets of marble or wood, with holes pierced through. Tinted glass was placed in the holes; this was known as a mosaic window. Leading was also used to join pieces of glass together to make attractive patterns in the windows.

Fact File Circular turrets on medieval castles had very unusual windows – they were very narrow slits. Because they were built as fortresses the windows were designed to minimize the chance of being hit by arrows.

 

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The first books were made about 4,000 years ago by the Egyptians, who used flattened layers of papyrus (a red-like water plant) to make sheets. The ‘books’ they made were collections of rolled papyrus sheets – very different to a book of today.

In the middle of the fifth century, parchment (sheet skin) replaced papyrus. Parchment sheets were placed on top of one another and bound down one side with leather tongs.

But it was in the in the Middle Ages that books as we know them today evolved. Vellum (calf skin) was made into sheets, and each piece was folded down the middle. Four vellum sheets made eight pages and was considered a section. Unlike parchment, vellum was thick enough to be written on both sides. Finished sections were sewn together down the back fold (the spine) and covered with wooden boards front and back. The boards and spine were then covered with leather; the result was a book similar to that of today.

Fact File  In about AD 500 monks would spend endless hours creating handwritten books decorated (illuminated) with colorful letters and images. The work was slow and painstaking, but worthwhile because it was another way to show dedication to God.

 

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The first paper was made about 2,000 years ago in China, by a man called Ts’ai Lun. He took the stringy inner bark of the Mulberry tree and pounded it in water until it became a mass of flattened threads. He then placed this pulped solution onto a flat tray of fine bamboo strips.

The water was allowed to drain through the bamboo, and the threads in the bamboo were left to dry. The dried result was a flat, fibrous material considered to be the very first paper. As with all new discoveries, improvements are gradually made. One way of achieving this was to brush starch over the paper.

The secret of paper making soon became world-wide knowledge as Chinese traders travelled to Russia and the Middle East. From there, the art of paper making spread to Europe.

A revolutionary invention, paper-making began to be produced in mass quantities. The first continuous paper-making machine was developed in France in 1798 by next century, the Fourdrinier brothers in London developed the idea further.

Fact File The Chinese had another secret, they were the only people who knew how to make silk. European traders would take the long journey to take silk back to Europe.

 

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Clay is believed to have been used to make ceramic objects for at least 15,000 years. Certainly, fragments of clay pots have been found which date back to the Neolithic period, over 10,000 years ago.

As early as 5,000 years ago people learned how to make their clay pots stronger and watertight, using fire. People soon discovered that by burning clay, its properties changed completely.

Thu uses of clay broadened from making small vessels to building materials. Clay-based bricks and tiles were amongst the first composite materials. Egyptian wall paintings of 5,000 years ago show clay workers making such bricks and pots.

The more adept at using clay people became, the more intricate the products they made. Some pottery which dates back thousands of years shows a high artistic quality in their production; examples of this are common from the Far East.

Through the ages, the use of clay in construction increased even more. Still today, ceramics is a huge industry world-wide.

Fact File Ancient brick-makers fired bricks in kilns (special ovens) to produce building materials for structures that were intended to last.

 

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Plastics are made by a chemical process called polymerization. Even without today’s technology and up-to-date knowledge, chemists of the nineteenth century understood the making of plastic. The first plastic, vinyl chloride, was made in 1838. This was closely followed by styrene in 1839, acrylics in 1843 and polyester in 1847. But at the time, no-one realized the potential for their use.

Later that century, chemists decided to find chapter, substitute manufacturing materials. In 1869 John Hyatt discovered Celluloid while trying to find a substitute for ivory. This was a revolutionary material that was tough and malleable; it started a wave of chemists developing new synthetic materials.

However the biggest development of plastics was by Leo Baekeland, who discovered phenolformaldehyde in 1909. He found that this could be moulded into any shape and was cheap to produce. He called the product Bakelite and it was the first synthetic material to be produced in large quantities for mass use.

Fact file Plastic is an ideal material for producing rainwear. It is water-resistant, air-permeable, shrink-resistant and can be easily wiped down.

 

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               As we use up natural resources such as coal and oil, there is a constant search for new sources of energy. The Sun gives out vast amounts of energy, of which only a tiny fraction reaches the Earth. If we could use just a small part of this energy it would fulfil all the world’s foreseeable needs for power, but so far it has not been possible to find efficient ways to collect solar energy. We harness the Sun’s energy with solar panels. This energy is then used to heat water.

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