Opus 2024-028: A Paper Miracle

We live in wonderful times.  All you need to say is “dental anesthesia”.  Get the idea?  Need another one?  How and cold running water.  How about A/C.  There are a lot of miracles that we take for granted.  I found myself staring at one this morning that I had never thought about before.

Paper.

I arrived at this as I was reading my Bible in the morning and I thought of what a stereotype I represented.  You have all seen pictures of little old ladies with a book open on their lap and you knew it was a Bible.  That was because of the flexible leather binding and the way in which it molds itself to your hands and legs.  I looked at mine and my attention went to the paper.  I started thinking about what a miracle it was.

I am looking at a book less than two inches think with about 1,700 pages.  Almost every page had printing on both sides.  The paper was strong enough to last for years of bending and touching.  It was thin enough to be manageable.  It was opaque enough to print on both sides.  I would not have any idea on how to start making paper except getting some wood and rags.

What a miracle it has been.  With the addition of the printing press it became the major tool of modern civilization and the spread of knowledge to all classes of people.  One reason so many people were illiterate in past ages was that books were so expensive.  Now we have paperback editions of ancient classics that anyone can afford.

The digital revolution takes it to another level but one miracle is enough for one day.

homo unius libri