Invention Of The Pencil: Nicholas-Jacques Conte

The use of a pencil is often underrated as it was used for keeping track of things by writing them down in an easier more reliable way. No one often questions when the first pencil was invented, or even who invented it. The first idea of a writing utensil was in Egypt in the 4th century of BC.(Amazon Assoc.). They used reed pens on a product that people made from the plant Cyperus papyrus. People made a type of paper out of the stem or stalk of the plant, They would cut them into thin strips then would get dried and pressed together for a smooth writing surface.(Encyclopaedia Britannica). Reed pens were used because they were stiff and were cut into a square and they would be used until the end began to split apart. According to them it was quite the process to make one of these just for them to not last long.(Amazon Assoc.). Amazon Assocation stated in their website that scribes would take a small undamaged piece of reed and split the ends to make a straight edge that can be used for writing. After they would hold the ends in ink until they could finally write. Reed pens were often replaced with quills because they are softer and can last longer than the reed.(Amazon Assoc.).

In the year of 1795 the three intelligent inventors created the first “lead” pencil1. (Popova,n.d.).They were tired of having an unreliable writing utensil and decided to make something more efficient. Nicholas-Jacques Conte, a scientist was making a so called magic material that was pure carbon, also known as graphite. Graphite was discovered in Europe by the Aztecs. Aztecs were predicted to use this material as a marking tool before it was made into a pencil. (Popova,n.d.). Conte might have been the official man to invent the pencil he was not the first to come up with the idea. A man named Conrad Gesner was the first to think of using graphite as a writing instrument. Conrad was shown by Carl Wilhelm Scheele that graphite was a form of carbon. Conrad started to think of the idea of putting the graphite into a straight holder between two pieces of wood. He thought of using graphite at first because it left dark markings on paper very well. ( Editors for Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020). The man to finalize the making of the pencil was the scientist Nicholas-Jacques Conte. He had a process originally by roasting clay, water graphite in a 1,900 degree Fahrenheit kiln. He had two designs of a pencil one being used for carpenters to make straighter lines. Conte also made them flat, so the pencil wouldn’t roll away. (Popova,n.d). the other shape of the pencil was more round, for the person using it could make better illustrations on the paper. Conte was known for making a system for the pencil to mark the hardness, darkness, and amount of material left on the paper. (Popova,n.d). Maria Popova wrote, “Commercial pencil manufacturers typically market 20 grades of pencil, from the softest, 9B, to the hardest 9H, with the most popular intermediate value, HB, lying midway between H and B. ‘H’ means hard and ‘B’ means black. The higher the B number, the more graphite gets left on the paper. There is also an ‘F’, or Fine point, which is a hard pencil for writing rather than drawing.” Nicholas-Jacques Conte was the official man to invent the pencil and the system along with it.

The use of the pencil for from the year 1795 has changed the way people can keep track of things a lot better than using a quill or a reed pen. The pencil was used for communication, keeping data, markings for building etc. Although the use of the pencil has started to decline because of the use of technology. It has still made a difference in the way we learn and communicate. The pencil has made a great stepping stone in many things in the world. The pencil may not be the most used thing item in technology to the day but it will always be remembered. From the great inventor in 1795, Nicholas-Jacques Conte.