WEBVTT - The Pencil 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.720 Welcome to Invention, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:12.840 welcome to Invention. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:16.040 Joe McCormick, and today we're going to be exploring the 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.400 invention of the pencil. Yes, like, like most of you, 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.320 we grew up with pencils, the good old fashioned wooden variety. 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:27.000 But of course you know the whole exercise of having 0:00:27.040 --> 0:00:30.200 to keep the you know, keep them sharpened, dealing with brakes, 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.240 dealing with oh I always hey when they when the 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.479 eraser either rubs off or falls out, and then you 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:38.160 go to erase something and you just get that heart 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:40.280 like I'm getting the chills even thinking about it, of 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:44.159 the metal, of the of an eraserless pencil scraping against 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.879 your text. Or Another thing I hate is when you 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:51.000 get like an older pencil out of your grandmother's writing 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.880 desk and it has one of those petrified erasers that 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.720 does nothing, and you start chewing on it, only to 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.880 realize it has lead paint. Well I'm that chewing on 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.920 them is another issue altogether, But but I remember, you know, 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:09.040 eventually being done, feeling done with the old fashioned wooden pencil, 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.479 and then I embraced the mechanical pencil instead. Wait wait, wait, 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.600 you mean done, like I'm never going to use a 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:18.360 wooden pencil again. Basically, yeah, it's like what mechanical pencils exist? 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.400 Goodbye wooden pencil I'm done with you and sharp to 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.800 pencils just no more, basically. And you know, also I 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.319 think at the time, being you know, essentially still a child, 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:30.959 like there was the gadget try of it right, Suddenly 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.360 oh I there's this plastic cylinder or I remember the 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:36.880 fancy ones. We had to like load the little uh 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.720 purchased lead um into the back of the pencil, and 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:42.080 you know, and then you're having to click it to 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.480 get I mean, ultimately it's another headache, right because it 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:47.960 still breaks. You still have to reload it, you have 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.840 to dry. You end up dropping those little tiny leads 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.160 all over the place. And I never liked mechanical pencils. 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.080 I think I always have had too heavy of a 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.800 hand when writing. I pressed down too hard, and so 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.800 the mechanical pencil lead would always just snap instantly. I 0:02:02.880 --> 0:02:05.200 also as a heavy doodler. One of the things I 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.600 noticed is that with the mechanical pencil, you pretty much 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:11.760 always have the same um you can you're always making 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:15.120 the same thickness of line for the most part, tiny gauge. Yeah. 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.040 But with a pencil, is it dolls? You can? And 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.200 even if it's not dold, you can do more things 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.680 on the paper when you're drawing, you know, goblins and 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.400 castles in the margins of your notes. Yes, the cone 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.760 of graphite becomes something that you can angle to its 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.399 flat side if you want to, sort of like shade more. 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:34.320 It's it's much more versatile, I believe. Yeah. But but 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:36.840 either way, even as I grew tired of the mechanical pencil, 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.800 I fell into the arms of the word processor, which 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.880 I mean that's a whole whole episode of invention onto itself. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:47.600 The word processor is amazing. Uh. It it changed the 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:52.400 way I wrote. It defines the way I write today. Uh. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.480 And so to a certain extent, I guess I kind 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.840 of thought I was done with anything aside from you know, 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:01.200 occasional sharpie's and uh in markers uh and the you 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:03.640 know in pens for when you have to sign something, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.400 I guess, or to make a quick note. But otherwise 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.120 I was like, oh, I don't need to consider pencils 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.680 ever again. But then two things happened first, um Um 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.920 ended up becoming a parent. So I have a child 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:20.840 who's going through elementary school, and suddenly pencils, old fashioned 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:23.919 pencils were flowing back into my household or having to 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.640 buy sharpeners, and I had to acknowledge, you know, given 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.480 his schooling and he's learning to write and spell and 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:35.080 doing a lot of physical homework in addition to digital homework. Uh, 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.760 the pencil, the old fashioned pencil is is really wonderful technology. 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.240 I've got a question that comes from this, Actually, why 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:45.720 is it that we associate pencils with childhood and pens 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.000 with adulthood? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, well, okay. 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:51.800 Part of it I think is is the the eraser 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:54.760 aspect of it, right, the idea that as you're learning, 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.440 you will be making mistakes and you will need to 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:01.600 correct things. And then adults make mistakes. Oh no, obviously, 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:06.000 but perhaps there is this idea as adults that we 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.200 don't make mistakes, We shouldn't be making mistakes, or you know, 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.400 when we make a stake, mistakes will just cross it out. 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.840 We don't have We're not turning our work into a supervisor, 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.360 you know, to a teacher anymore we can. These are 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.480 notes are mostly from my own purposes, and therefore I 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:22.479 can do what I want. With adults, it's more important 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:24.880 to have a constant reminder of your mistake, is a 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.600 big scratched out blot on the page steering back each 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.200 rather than something that you can erase all evidence of 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.000 right now. Of course, there are some of you movies saying, oh, well, 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.400 there are erasable pins. I definitely remember. Irasable pins were horrible. Yeah, 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.520 I was never a huge fan of them, but but 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.760 they did exist. Just to acknowledge. But another thing that 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:45.480 is very recently happening happened to me really in the 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:49.240 last month is after like a five year period of 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.520 being a dungeon master in Dungeons and Dragons, I became 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.000 a player again under another dungeon master, so I had 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.560 my physical character sheet. Again. One can use a digital 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:01.960 character set, but I prefer the paper. And if you're 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:05.200 going to be writing down a bunch of stats and belongings, 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.520 you know, recording how much gold your character has, how 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.719 many experience points, their hit points, etcetera, it really behooves 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:16.360 you to have an erasable and erasable pencil. To have 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:18.960 a pencil at your disposal for this. So I find 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:23.600 myself using an old fashioned pencil once more and not 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:28.080 only appreciating it, but marveling at the at the perfection 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.080 of the device, of of this invention, of this writing 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:35.080 implement the pencil. I got asked, do you go like 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.800 full on pencil long thing with the eraser or you 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:39.960 kind of a golf pencil game. I am not a 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.200 golf pencil person, know what I'm really digging right now. Uh, 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.760 And this feels a little extravagant when I compare it 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:50.839 to my childhood experience with pencils pre sharpened Tai Conderoga 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.760 pencils that come in the box already sharpen. You just 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.159 take them out, they're ready to go. Uh. If you 0:05:56.200 --> 0:05:58.599 want to be just completely reckless, and I don't recommend this, 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:00.600 you could like basically pull one out right with it 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:02.760 until it breaks and then just throw it away. But 0:06:02.839 --> 0:06:05.760 don't do that, obviously. But then that's why I think 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.880 it feels kind of extravagant, because I remember just using 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.279 pencils until they were just gone. Oh. I loved it. Actually, 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:14.840 I really enjoyed getting a pencil down to the like 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.880 the one inch zone. I thought that was fun. Yeah, 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.320 where it had no no length on the pencil, no 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:23.839 eraser remaining where I remember the replacement erasers that you 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.440 put on the end of the pencil. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:29.080 that fit over the end yea, which which really I 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.120 found did not work all that well. You'd go to 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.120 a race something, I'd just come off, but it would break. Yeah. Yeah, 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.920 but sometimes they look cool. They're brightly colored, and yeah, 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:38.800 you kind of end up. That was the thing too. 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:43.200 I remember just fetishizing writing implements as a child. You know, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.560 did you ever have one of those gigantic novelty parallelogram erasers, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:52.720 the standalone eraser that's parallelogram with the bent sides? Big, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:54.039 I don't think I had one of I tend to 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.240 have tended to have the gum eraser like that dark brown, 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.159 you know, just a just a try angular chunk. Do 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.720 you remember this one? Now? Would I would have that? 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:07.360 I know nothing of this. This is outside my world. 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.120 Well or nice, especially if you're if you're engaging in 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.040 you know, uh, pencil art. It's good to having like 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.520 a nice art eracer art gum eracer on the side. 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:18.480 Now you might wonder, like, well, how much could actually 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:21.000 be out there about the pencil. You know, there's somebody, 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:25.120 a scholar of engineering, who wrote an entire book about 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.720 the history and invention of the pencil as like an 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.280 injury from an engineer's perspective. Uh. This is a book 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.160 by Henry Petrovski called The Pencil, A History of Design 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:40.320 and Circumstance, published by Alfred A. Knopf in And. Petrovsky 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:43.320 is an American engineer and a professor of civil engineering 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.680 at Duke University. I haven't finished reading this whole book yet. 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.480 It is a huge book about pencils, and it is 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.440 it is great, Yeah, in more than one sense. In 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.760 one sense, if you find any article online about the pencil, 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.920 this book is inevitably cited, like he is the authority 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.160 on pencils. And then, on the other hand, this is 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.280 not a dry read. It is so like he has 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:11.080 an incredible time just taking the pencil's history apart, contemplating 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.680 what it means, what it says about the human experience, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.680 what it says about innovation and invention. It's extremely contemplative 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.720 and full of what almost feels like oratory. Often the 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.720 book feels like it is it is a speech that 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.480 would have been delivered in ancient rome about like the 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.000 virtues of engineering or or like there's almost a religious 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:33.800 flare to it, like, Hello, my name is Henry Petrovski, 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:37.760 and I would like to tell you about the pencil. So, yeah, 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:39.319 this is gonna be a lot of fun. And it's 0:08:39.360 --> 0:08:41.440 one reason it made me think, I'm not sure yet 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.880 whether this is going to be our one episode about 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.240 the pencil, or maybe we'll need to explore more, maybe 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:47.760 we'll have to come back. Yeah, we'll have to keep 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:50.280 an eye on it, because as we explore the pencil, 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:52.920 we're going to have to talk about and a number 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.079 of other writing implements, and we're going to have to 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:59.080 talk about the racer as well. So uh, let's let's 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:02.200 go ahead and dive in. Generally, our our format on 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.400 the show is to begin with what came before. Obviously, Yeah, 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:09.800 pencils haven't been here forever. We know writing predates the pencil, 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.640 So so what does that world look like? All right, Well, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:17.120 let's just think for a second about writing implements. At 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.520 a very basic level, the act of writing or even 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.800 drawing requires you to either add to a given surface, 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.040 subtract from a given surface, or but just in some 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:32.079 way disrupt an existing layer or a pile of particles, right, 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.120 And the most basic tool to do this is of 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.839 course the human finger. So with the finger in mind, 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.200 you can even pull yours out and look at it. 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.640 Right now, Um, let's let's consider a few examples. So, 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.200 first of all, the additive model. So if you were 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:50.760 to dab your finger in dye, in oil, in blood, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.920 or smearit with ash and then trace a few lines 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.680 on a surface, that is uh, you know, additive writing 0:09:57.760 --> 0:10:00.679 that you're adding to something to create the act. Right, 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.640 then there is subtractive Okay, If you use your fingernail 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.000 to scratch a few lines into a surface by removing 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.640 the outer layers such as you know, layers of bark 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:14.360 on a tree, a stone face, paint on a house, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.000 or on a metal sign, that sort of thing, then 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.480 you were subtracting from it to make your mark. And 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.040 both of these methods of making marks go far back 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:24.920 into prehistory. Like if you look at a cave paintings 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.280 or petroglyphs, some of these are going to be additive, 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.040 where you know that they've created some kind of pigment 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.760 out of something and then painted that onto cave walls, 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.600 others are going to be subtractive where you see carvings 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.520 that are left behind his indentations, right, and then there's 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.680 this other area which is is kind of in between, 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.200 and that's just disruption. So if you were to trace 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:46.640 the same lines through, say the accumulated dust on a 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.240 given surface, or the accumulated ash following say, you know, 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:53.000 volcanic eruption, it's the perfect way to use your finger 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.560 as a writing implement. When you realize that you can 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.520 write wash me on the dusty back of somebody's car, right, 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.000 But even without surfaces like that, you know you can 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:05.240 you can write in the in the dirt or in 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:08.199 the sand with your finger. It's it's not quite subtraction 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:10.600 or addition. It is much more of a disruption of 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:14.520 the of what is before you. So that's just a 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.720 basic way to to look at it. But of course 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:20.600 humans didn't just create language, they also created tools. So 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.880 the finger is just the beginning. Let's consider a few 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.720 more examples of each of these forms of writing. Uh, 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.720 but instead of stopping at the finger, will go beyond 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:44.040 the finger into instruments. Let's insert beyond the finger music. Alright, 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:46.599 going beyond the finger so let's start with both the 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:49.520 subtractive and disruption sort of you know, putting together into 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.240 one category here. I think a fine example of this 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.080 is the use of a stylus to make marks in 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:58.120 a wax or clay tablet. And this was used from 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.800 ancient times well into the Middle Ages. Yeah, I think 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:04.920 probably it would be the oldest examples of like character 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.840 based writing we have, right, would be, uh, you know, 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:12.440 from like ancient Mesopotamia using stylists to make indentations in 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.959 like a clay or wax surface. And for a more 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.560 modern example, I think you have some of these novelty 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:23.400 toys where you use a magnetic stylists to move around 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:27.800 iron filings. Yeah, you know, generally you're not maybe writing something, 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.480 you're more like putting a mustache of iron filings onto 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:34.120 a cartoon face. But but that I think also is 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.240 an example of what we're talking about here now. Speaking 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:40.120 of of of the stylists or or styles, which I 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:44.280 believe is the plural um, Petrovsky writes that iron styles 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.320 were known to be often misused in Roman times because 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:51.160 one of the things about a fine tipped metal object 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:55.160 is you can also use them to stab people. So uh. 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.880 So sometimes they were banned in favor of ivory or 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.720 other materials, which of course begs the question can't you 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.680 stab somebody with ivory? Obviously you can. I mean, you 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.160 can stab somebody with a number two pencil if it's 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:09.920 sharpened enough. And um, you know so I don't entirely 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:14.000 understand the prohibition there. Um. But lead was also a 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.280 particularly favored material at the time as well, and we 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.440 can come back to that. Yes, Now let's talk about 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:25.280 additive writing implements. The use of chalk and slate is 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.760 a great example, and that goes back at least to 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.720 like the eighth century. Uh. And the the use of 0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:33.360 ink on a brush or in a pin is another 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.560 good example. The history of of the ink pen will 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.760 have to, I think, wait for another episode of this show, 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:42.040 but suffice to say that reed pens were used in 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.400 ancient Egypt five thousand years ago and are still used today. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.960 In some places. Quills have been used for this purpose 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:52.800 as well as have metal nibs. The ink pin with 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:56.280 a reservoir dates back seemingly at least as far as 0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:00.640 the tenth century CEU to northern Africa, and then of 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:03.400 course the pencil. The modern pencil that we're talking about 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.520 in this episode. Uh, this is additive as well, um, 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:11.120 and an additive method that uses a graphite cord length 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:13.480 of wood sharpened on one end and capped with a 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.360 rubber eraser on the other. Though of course sometimes you'll 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.720 still find pencils that are either uh not capped, whether 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.000 an eraser or capped with with just metal. Yeah, your 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:28.560 golf pencils not capped. Yeah, that's the the low rent version. Well, 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:29.960 maybe we should take a break and the when we 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.080 come back, we can discuss the pencil in terms of 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:40.720 names and materials. All right, we're back, So let's start 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.800 with the name of this invention itself. Yes, So it 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:47.240 turns out the name of the pencil actually pre dates 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.960 what we would think of as a pencil, which is 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:52.920 this thing made of wood with or even you know, 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:56.440 mechanical pencil either way, with a letter, graphite core inside 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.680 the the eraser on the back. Things that were really 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.080 not much like that. We're called a pencil long before 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.840 this existed, that's right. According to Petroski, this refers to 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:11.600 the penicillum brush um, which this was the Latin name 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.240 for a writing instrument that consisted of a tuft of 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:20.440 animal hair that was inserted into a hollow read. So 0:15:20.760 --> 0:15:23.520 if you can imagine, yeah, you have you have this 0:15:23.520 --> 0:15:25.080 this tuft of animal hair that I think it's like 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:28.560 kind of curled and shaped, and then you insert that 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:33.320 through a hollowed out read, hollow read and then that 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:35.840 way you're holding the read on the outside, but in 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:38.840 the interior of it is this, uh, this animal hair. Right, 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:41.440 So what you would have is a a long, solid 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:43.480 implement I believe it would be the same length or 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.680 so of a pencil of today. But then out the 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.840 end of it you would have a fine gathering of 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.200 animal hairs all clumped together by the opening at the 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.840 end of the read. So what it would create is 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:58.800 this fine tipped little brush. Yeah. And and and to a 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.920 certain extent, it mind is one of various animal tails. 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:04.200 And in this we kind of get into the curious 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:07.400 history of the word, the name itself, and and also 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:11.640 I think we touched on the the euphemism treadmill that 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:13.880 we've discussed on stuff to blow your mind in the past. 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:18.240 Because the Latin name stems from penaesulis, the for the 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.840 for brush, which is a diminutive form of the word 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:25.840 penis which is Latin for tail. So a pencil is 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.200 literally a little tale. Yes, And if you're wondering, I 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.680 did look it up. Was the word penis in Latin? 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.560 Did that actually ever mean penis like it does in 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.520 English today? Apparently sometimes it did, but originally what it 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:42.760 meant was tail, And then again through some like process 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:46.480 of euphemisms or whatever associations, it also came to me 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.440 and what it means in English today. So call it 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.000 what you will. Let's consider the particular strength of the 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.040 modern pencil based on what we've been talking about so far. 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:58.880 So first of all, it is portable. It is highly portable, 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.440 and I smudge roof to a very large degree at 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.440 least when you Yes, you can smudge pencil etchings. But 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.359 compare it to ink, compare it to a chalk on 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.560 a board. Uh, it's I think it's it's safe to 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.640 say that it's pretty smudge free. It's less messy than 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.480 most of these other forms of writing. It is erasable 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:22.200 on untreated paper, and uh, certainly today anyway, it is inexpensive. 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:28.119 People regularly treat the pencil like dirt. I'll walk my 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.520 son into school and they'll be like a pencil and 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.040 a mud puddle and um, and of course I've kind 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:37.879 of been broken by our disposable culture to where I 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.399 would just pass it by. He'll stop, He'll pick it 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.120 up out of the mud puddle and be like, look, 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:45.359 here's a pencil. We should say this, And sometimes they 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:47.560 have to say, oh, I think you're right. Later, the 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.040 eracer looks pretty good on that one. It's it's even 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:53.280 still sharpened. Okay, let's dry it off. That's the sweetest 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:57.120 thing saving a pencil. Yeah, I mean, and I agree 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:59.600 with them now that I'm I'm forcing myself to respect 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.520 the pencil a lot more now by Roman times, I 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.679 think that Petroski uh points out that you have two 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:10.840 different uh threads of technology that would eventually unite to 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.359 become the pencil we have today, because in those times 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.000 we had the penicillum, the brush, the read with the 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.240 hair through it, and that that would sort of supply 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.760 the elements that you think of of like a long 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:23.920 thing that you can hold in your hand to write with. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.840 It's rigid and it makes a dark, fine mark on 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.160 the page. And but the other thing he points out 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.680 is that at the time, lead was literally used as 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:35.920 a writing implement and this would have been real lead, 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:39.320 not the graphite of today. Uh. So, you know, there 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.520 are several reasons that lead would be useful as a 0:18:42.520 --> 0:18:45.040 writing implement. Number one is very soft and so it 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.800 can rub off on a writing surface to easily leave 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.280 a mark. But that mark, if you were just like 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.840 holding a chunk of lead in your hand to write with, 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.640 the mark would probably not be very dark. It would 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:58.920 be kind of light colored, and it would not be uh, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.600 and it would not necessarily be very permanent. Maybe it 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:04.399 could easily get rubbed off and also kind of be 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:06.879 hard to hold the chunk in your hand as you're writing. 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.320 So it seems like these two things could ultimately kind 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:14.080 of converged, right. Yeah, Now, a quick note on lead 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:16.720 for starters. There's an older episode of Stuff to Blow 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:21.400 your Mind our other podcast titled Cupids Laden Arrow, which 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:23.879 is about lead and about the history of lead and 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:25.320 how lead was used, and we get into a lot 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:27.800 of Roman uses of lead and then as well. Another 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.040 thing to keep in mind is that graphite was a 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:33.600 long thought to be a form of lead and was 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:38.239 sometimes classified as such. Thus some of our confusion at 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.960 time regarding the lead in our pencil. Yeah, but but 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.480 there is a specific material reason why something like lead 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.840 would have been useful for writing, And again it's that 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.000 it's soft to the lead. The paper that you write 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.199 on is kind of like sand paper. It just you know, 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.680 scrapes it right off and leave some on there to 0:19:56.520 --> 0:20:01.680 be your additive marking material. Absolutely, so, of course, graphite 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:04.719 or lead or charcoal, any of these things in and 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.960 of themselves can be used as a writing implement. You 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.399 could just have a chunk of of graphite in your hand, 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:14.000 but do you actually want to write with that? Do 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:16.600 you want your hand to potentially cramp. That's something that 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:19.320 Petrusky touches on a number of times is that you 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.879 need a writing implement that is not too big or 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.560 too small, like if you had to write with a 0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:27.879 golfing pencil all the time. Like a golfing pencil is 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:31.960 ideal because ultimately you're not writing, You're you're only gonna 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:35.359 be so verbose while you're keeping score during a golf game. 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:37.160 You just need to jot down a few numbers here 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.520 and there. There's no you know, introductory paragraph or a 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:44.600 self reflection essay. Only needs to be useful enough to cheat. Right. 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.280 Another question is do you want that graphite or lead 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:51.720 all over your hand and your fingers and then potentially 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.000 all over your work surface while you're writing. Uh, Thus 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:57.560 the need to encase it in something much like the 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.760 read casing um of the the sort of you know, 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:05.080 the earlier pencil, the penicillum that we discussed earlier. So 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:08.400 so there's that side of the advancement. The other side 0:21:08.440 --> 0:21:11.719 of the advancement, of course, is that paper became increasingly cheaper, 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:15.720 and graphite then was an increasingly favored means of etching 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:19.000 on it, especially after a deposit of fine graphite was 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:23.120 an earth in Cumbria, England during the fifteen hundreds. By 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:26.080 the way, in this region today you'll find the Derwent 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:30.239 Pencil Museum in what is now Kesswick. They have the 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.760 largest colored pencil in the world. That sounds like something 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.000