My Notebook of Questions : Inventions

Qa International Collectif

Description

The objects that surround us are so much a part of our daily lives that we often forget they have not always been around.

Sujets

• Children's literature
• History
• Invention

Informations

• Publié par: Québec Amérique
• Date de parution: 18 septembre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782764411704
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 11 Mo

Extrait

4

My Notebook of Questions

Invent n i ius ons Professor Gé

Who was the inventor of paper? What is the precursor of refrigerators? What is an abacus for? Who invented boats? When was ice cream invented?

My Notebook of Questions Inventions

by Professor Genius

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Professor Genius  Inventions  (My Notebook of Questions)  Includes an index  For readers ages 7 and up

ISBN 978-2-7644-1170-4

 1. Inventions—Reference books for children. 2. Inventions—history— Reference books for children. I. Title. II. Collection.

was created and produced by: Inventions, My Notebook of Questions,

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval sytem, without permission in writing by QA International. © QA International, 2007. All rights reserved. www.qa-international.com Printed and bound in Singapore. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 12 11 10 09 08 07

QA Kids an imprint of QA International 329, de la Commune St. West 3rd Floor Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2E1 Canada

T 514.499.3000 F 514.499.3010 www.qa-international.com

ving persons ure fantasy. Any resemblance to actual li The characters in Professor Genius’s universe are p tters, ontain are accurate, the newspaper articles, old le is entirely coincidental. Although the facts they c of the imaginations sonal collection are all products books, and magazines drawn from the Professor’s per of the creators of this notebook.

www.geniusinfo.net

Table of Contents Who invented fire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 What was the first object ever invented? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Who invented words? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Who invented our alphabet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Who invented perfume?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Who invented boats?18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How long has money been around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Who invented ice skates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Who invented soap? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Who invented the wheel?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 How long have skis been around?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 What is silk? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Who invented paper? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Who invented numbers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Who invented chocolate?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 What did people use before refrigerators?. . . . . . . . . . . . 50 What were the first jobs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Who first had the idea of building houses? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 When were the first toys invented? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Who was the inventor of jewelry? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Who invented heating?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Why was the abacus invented? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 When was toothpaste invented? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 How did people cure before the invention of medicine? . . . . . . 74 How long has postal service been around?. . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 Who invented music? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 How long has bread existed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 How long have utensils been around? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 When was ice cream invented?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

To all those who open this notebook, So many inventions have changed the way we live. Some of them have even changed the world! Indispensable, practical, funny, serious and occasionally tasty, each of these inventions has a story that I find captivating! Many curious young readers think they’re interesting, too, so I’ve gathered all the questions about inventions that appeared during prehistoric and ancient times (between the time humans first appeared 5 million years ago and the year 476). Who invented the wheel? When was ice cream invented? How long has paper been around? I’ve answered these questions and many others in this notebook, with the help of simple diagrams, photos and other illustrations. So keep asking questions and let your imagination run wild. Who knows? You may be one of tomorrow ’s inventors… Happy reading! Professor Genius

4

Dear Professor, Can you tell me who invented fire? Thank you very much.

Emily, age 7

Dear Emily, That’s a very interesting question! As a matter of fact, fire is not really an invention. To help you understand why, Emily, let me explain the difference between an “invention” and a “discovery..” An invention is something new that is created by a human being. It is something that did not exist before. It can be an object, a tool or material. A discovery, on the other hand, is a thing or a phenomenon that is seen or understood for the first time, but that already existed in nature. And so, dear Emily, fire is a discovery and not an invention.

5

On the other hand, the many different ways to make a fire are inventions. (Think of a lighter or matches, for example.) But let’s get back to your question. One of the oldest clues indicating that humans used fire was found in a cave in South Africa. Fossilized bones, about 1.5 million years old, showed that people at that time had cooked an antelope. It is believed, thanks to bushfires lit by lightning, that prehistoric humans managed to get hold of a flame and carry it back to their encampment. How did they do it? No one really knows for sure. You could imagine a brave member of the tribe approaching this monstrous fire to light a stick of wood. The tribe probably watched over the flame, day and night. It was important that the fire not go out because they did not yet know how to make it themselves! It was only a million years later that humans invented the

6

first ways of making fire. Without a doubt, Emily, this discovery changed people’s lives. From this moment on, they could use fire to frighten off wild animals and to cook the meat and vegetables they ate. Also, thanks to the light from the flame, they could make homes in caves that had once been too dark to live in. It isn’t a big thing for us, who are used to our comforts, but at the time, it was quite a revolution! Best regards, Professor Genius

7

Subject: First invention Date: September 15, 2006 To: Professor Genius

Dear Professor Genius, Do you know what the first thing ever to be invented was? If you do, please tell me :) Take care, Raymond, age 7

My dear Raymond, The oldest known object to have been invented is a tool. As a matter of fact, it was a chopper—a stone carved with the help of another stone to make it sharp. Its inventor was one of the first humans, called ”Homo habilis.” The chopper was very practical! It was used to cut up the meat of animals (perhaps antelopes or elephants), carve wood or crack nutshells. The oldest of these carved stones were found in Tanzania, a country in East Africa. They are more than 2.5 million years old! Over time, improvements were made to this tool. After choppers, people made Chopper 8