my notebook of questions - inventions€¦ · “alphabet.” the word is a combination of the...

My Notebook of Questions


4

My N

ote

book o

f Questio

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Inventio

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www.qa-international.com

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?

Professor Génius

InventionsThe objects that surround us are so much

a part of our daily lives that we often forget they have not always been around. In this notebook, good old Professor Genius has gathered many

of the questions sent to him by curious young readers who want to know all about the

great inventions. The kindly and well-informed professor provides simple answers and accompanies his explanations with notes, drawings and

personal observations.

Professor Génius

WHO INVENTED CHOCOLATE ?

WHAT IS SILK ?

WHEN WAS TOOTHPASTE INVENTED ?

Inventions

Extrait de la publication


Inventions

by Professor Genius


The characters in Professor Genius’s universe are pure fantasy. Any resemblance to actual living persons

is entirely coincidental. Although the facts they contain are accurate, the newspaper articles, old letters,

books, and magazines drawn from the Professor’s personal collection are all products of the imaginations

of the creators of this notebook.

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.


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. West3rd FloorMontreal, Quebec H2Y 2E1 Canada

T 514.499.3000 F 514.499.3010www.qa-international.com

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.

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

www.geniusinfo.netExtrait de la publication

Table of ContentsWho 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


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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 mil lion

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 il lustrations.

So keep asking questions and let your imagination

run wild. Who knows? You may be one of

tomorrow’s inventors…

Happy reading!

Professor Genius


5

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 real ly 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.


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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 mil lion 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 real ly 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 mil lion

years later that humans invented the

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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


8

Subject: First inventionDate: September 15, 2006To: 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

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bifaces. These stone tools, often made

of a rock called flint, were carved

on two sides. The result was a

narrow and very pointy tool as

sharp as glass! Little by little, new

tools were invented to accomplish

particular tasks. People carved stones

in pointy shapes to make spears and

arrows for hunting. They used small bones to

make sewing needles and fishhooks.

I must tell you, Raymond, that huge progress

was made thanks to these tools. They made

it possible for people to clothe themselves,

hunt, build houses and… invent more tools!

Affectionately ,

Professor Genius

Biface

Arrows and spear

10

Dear Professor Genius,

Can you tell me who invented words?

Thanks a lot.Anna, age 6

Dear Anna,

Words are, without a doubt, the biggest and

most ingenious human invention. Thanks to

words, we can discuss, write and sing. It’s

hard to imagine life without words, isn’t it?

It al l started with the earliest humans, who

quickly felt the need to exchange information,

thoughts and to talk about their daily lives.

Words were created because of these needs.

The first words were written more than

5,000 years ago by the Sumerians, a

people who lived on the banks of the Tigris

and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq.

Each word was represented by a different


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little drawing. This early writing consisted

of about 2,000 signs! Over the centuries,

it evolved quite a lot. The drawings that

represented objects became simple nail-

shaped strokes. We call them “cuneiform

writing,” which means “wedge-shaped.” I’l l let

you see for yourself the impressive way that

the word ‘’bird’’ evolved.

Little by little, each ancient civilization

invented its own system of writing. Thus

the Greek, Chinese or Egyptians writing

were born!

1 2 3


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Of course, each form of writing evolved a

lot on its own. Some forms appeared, while

others died out. That is perhaps why there

are so many different kinds of writing today..

Take care,

Professor Genius

Dear Professor,

Who invented the Latin

alphabet? Thank you for

your answer!

Stephen,age 8 and a half


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Dear Stephen,

“ABCDEFG… HIJKLMNOP…

QRSTUVWXYZ… now I know my

ABC’s, next time won’t you sing with me…”

Do you know this song? It’s a fun way to

memorize the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet!

To find out who invented this alphabet, go back

to Sumerian writing (which I talked about

earlier to Anna). With its 2,000 different little

drawings, this writing was difficult to learn

and memorize! Imagine for a moment that,

to write correctly, you had to know all these

little signs. It wouldn’t be easy! To solve this

problem, the Phoenicians (a people who lived

on the east coast of the Mediterranean)

invented the ancestor of our alphabet.

This was about 3,300 years ago! Their

alphabet was made up of 22 consonants

that represented al l possible sounds in the

Phoenician language.


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Five hundred years later, the

Greeks perfected

the invention by making

up vowels as well as the

ancestors of punctuation.

But that was not al l, Stephen!

They also cal led this series of letters the

“alphabet.” The word is a combination of

the first two letters in the Greek alphabet:

“alpha” and “beta.” Four hundred years later,

the Romans were inspired by this alphabet

to make their own: they kept 19 of the

Greek letters and soon after invented 7

others. The Latin alphabet was born, with

its 6 vowels and 20 consonants!

Best regards,

Professor Genius


1515

Dear Professor Genius,

When I hug my mother, I smell the scent of

her perfume. It reminds me of the scent of the

flowers in the field near where I live. Can you

tell me who invented perfume?

Thank you.Sophie, age 9

My dear Sophie,

Your question brings back wonderful memories.

I remember the scent of the jasmine perfume

my grandmother wore when I snuggled in

her arms—and of my father’s cologne when

he picked me up to give me a kiss. Ever since,

when I smell these scents, I remember them

both with great tenderness. To get back to

your question, Sophie, no one really knows

who invented perfume. We do know,

however, that it has been around a

really long time. The Sumerians were

using it about 5,000 years ago. It

was the inhabitants of ancient Egypt,


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however, who perfected it and made it an

object of great importance. The Egyptians

considered perfume to be sacred. They burned

incense al l day long to honor their gods. It

was fashionable for them to rub perfumed

grease on themselves. Queen Cleopatra,

who ruled Egypt more than 2,000 years

ago, adored perfume. Besides perfuming

herself, she had the fabrics around her

soaked with it—even the sails on her boats!

It is said that this was how she charmed

the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. Amusing,

isn’t it? The Egyptians passed their love of

perfume on to the Romans and the Greeks.

It was the Romans, by the way, who were

the first to capture all these different scents

in glass bottles. Perfume in ancient times

was made from flowers, aromatic plants

(like rosemary, verbena and coriander),

resins or scented wood (like cinnamon, cedar

and sandalwood). These scented plants were

Incense

94

ABCDE

abacus 68, 69, 70

alphabet 12, 13, 14

barter 21, 22

bicycle 32

biface 9

boat 18, 19, 20

bread 83, 84, 85, 86

bus 32

calculator 68, 69

car 32

chocolate 47, 48, 49

chopper 8, 9

coins 21, 23, 24

crossbar 34

dice 59

digit 46

discovery 5

doll 59

FGHIJ

farmers 54

fire 5, 6, 7

fork 87, 89, 90

heating 64, 65

hoop 59

houses 55, 56, 57, 65

hypocaust 65, 66, 67

ice cream 91, 92, 93

icehouse 50, 51, 52

ice skates 25, 26, 27

invention 5

jewelry 61, 62, 63

jobs 53, 55

KLMNO

kite 59

knife 87, 88

lighter 6

mail 77, 78, 79

match 6

medicines 74, 75, 76

money 21, 23

music 80, 81, 82

numerals 44, 45, 46

numerals, Brahmi 46

numerals, Roman 45, 46

oars 19

PQRST

paper 41, 42, 43

papyrus 41

parchment 42

perfume 15, 16, 17

postal service 77, 78, 79

refrigerator 50, 52

remedies 75, 76

sailboat 18, 19, 20

sherbet 92

silk 38, 39, 40

silk, spider 40

skis 36, 37

soap 28, 29, 30

spokes 34

spoon 87, 88, 89

steamboat 19, 20

swing 59

toothpaste 71, 72, 73

top 59

toys 58, 59, 60

trades 53, 55

UVWXYZ

utensils, eating 87

wheel 20, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 59

writing 10, 11, 12, 13

yo-yo 59

94

Index

95

Many thanks…

To Martine Podesto, for her support and confidence in me.

To Claire de Guil lebon, for the right words.

To Anouk Noël, for her drawing advice and marvelous

work with a pencil. To Jocelyn Gardner and Alain Lemire,

for lending an efficient helping hand.

To Josée Noiseux, for beautiful ly organizing this notebook.

To Émilie Corriveau, Daniel le Quinty, and Mathieu Douvil le

for their able assistance. To Anne Tremblay, for her

sharp eye.

To Odile Perpil lou and Nathalie Fréchette, for perfect

management of the production of this notebook.

To Gil les Vézina, for helping me find such beautiful

photographs.

To Donna Vekteris, for her translation of the text.

To Veronica Schami, for proofreading the English text.

To Stéphanie Lanctôt, for validating the scientific content of

this notebook.

A special thanks to Caroline Fortin, François Fortin and

Jacques Fortin, who, as always, lend me their support.

And, saving the best for last, a big thanks to al l the

curious young readers who sent me their questions.

I can’t wait for the next ones to arrive!

Until we meet again for the next notebook!

Professor Genius


96

p. 48: Cacao tree © Vic Aboudara/iStockPhoto.com / p. 60: Boy on swing © Josée Noiseux / p. 69: Chinese abacus © Hélène Brion.

Photo Credits




4

My N

ote

book o

f Questio

ns

Inventio

ns


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?

Professor Génius

InventionsThe objects that surround us are so much

a part of our daily lives that we often forget they have not always been around. In this notebook, good old Professor Genius has gathered many

of the questions sent to him by curious young readers who want to know all about the

great inventions. The kindly and well-informed professor provides simple answers and accompanies his explanations with notes, drawings and

personal observations.

Professor Génius

WHO INVENTED CHOCOLATE ?

WHAT IS SILK ?

WHEN WAS TOOTHPASTE INVENTED ?

Inventions


my notebook of questions - inventions€¦ · “alphabet.” the word is a combination of the...

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