Paintings brushed onto cave walls. Hieroglyphics carved into slabs of stone. Email tapped out on a computer keyboard. From long ago to today, writing has never stayed the same.
From the earliest days of humanity, thoughts and ideas were shared through stories passed down from generation to generation. These stories, which were helpful in building and sustaining communities, survived through word of mouth. These stories developed traditions in many places around the world.
At one point, though, ideas needed to be remembered another way. Many people began to write down ideas. Writing could be saved and read for a long time. And as inventors created new technology, written words could be sent to people far away. The Story of Words: A Look at Writing Through History explores all the different ways ideas and traditions were documented, including:
- Cave paintings
- Cuneiform writing
- Hieroglyphics
- Movable type
- The printing press
- Digital technology
Woven in the history of writing and communication are also small "Try It Yourself" projects that readers can enjoy:
- Read Hieroglyphics: Decipher hieroglyphic text.
- Make Your Own Paper: Project where the reader makes papyrus.
- Make a Print: Make block printing samples.
- Make Some Mail: Learn to write a letter from date to signature.
- Design Your Own Alphabet: Create coded messages or a new language.
