Books aren’t only about literature; it is a mode of communication. In this 21st century, people’s point of view about books has changed. Books are written on various subjects; fiction and non-fiction. These aren’t written and sold for business; knowledge is spread through these; it has a significant role in a person’s life. A time will arrive when students will be carrying laptops in their bags instead of notebooks, they’ll be making notes on them, and school will have a high-class internet connection, but once the internet is gone then they will realize the significance of books.
Science was not developed so much when people used to write things by their hands, people were very slow and uncomfortable in writing things. New things are made and developed through people’s innovative thinking because they observe the discomfort of people and think about it. Writers from the 6th to the 19th century used to write things with “ink and quill” and it evolved into a famous writing tool up until the 19th century.
An Evolution of Writing in the World of Writing Books: Many famous writers like; William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens wrote their work by Ink and Quills, they dipped the quill in the ink and wrote their marvelous work. There were many kinds of ink. But if in today’s time, anybody tries to write by ink and quill it’d be very difficult for them. Writing instruments were developing, in 1809, Bartholomew Folsch received a patent in England for a “pen” with an ink reservoir.
A student in Paris, Romanian Petrache Poenaru invented a fountain pen that used a quill as an ink reservoir. The French Government patented it in May 1827, and then in the 1850s, its patents and productions were increased. When the way of writing fastened, “typewriters” were built, they had an inked ribbon, almost functioning like today’s computer’s keyboard. It had all the alphabet keys to type. Papers were inserted and words were typed. Christopher Latham Sholes built it. Then in 1897, the first computer monitor was invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun, and on October 25, 1983, “Microsoft Word” was released by the “Microsoft Corporation”, Richard Brodie and Charles Simyoni were responsible for this patent.
All of these merits had advantages and disadvantages, profits were, save of time, things were systematic, straight in line but it had disadvantages, lack of patience, loss in the knowledge of grammar, before writing anything a person thinks carefully that there should be no grammatical mistake at that time of 6th to 15th century, but in typing many things were slipped or missed or could not be corrected or the paper would be wasted.
Earlier books were bound by thread tightly and the news was printed, there was a huge craze for books, and now e-books are released too. but since Artificial Intelligence (AI) has developed everybody is searching for things on the internet, dictionaries were made to search meaning of any word, people might have forgotten that whatever humans are using to survive was built by them, so we have to maintain a habit of using everything. The Internet has joined everyone in a way that if for one day the Internet is blocked or unavailable then it’d be very difficult to find resources, whatever people are searching on the Internet is uploaded by people, and we are responsible for everything.
We should respect all professions. It is not necessary that if a person is writing a book would belong to the literature’s field. Everyone has the freedom to write, either fiction or non-fiction. Fiction books are very necessary because its very different from reality, reality has a very harsh environment and people face these every day but fiction has a different world, reading a novel it gives relief to the reader’s mind, it holds a special place in the world of literature and culture. Novels are written in different genres. Readers learn a new language and they try to improve the language by applying it in real life.
Non-fiction books are based on real topics or subjects, those are written in simple language, because a real subject is complicated to understand and analyze, so it’s written in simple language. Subjects like Science, Social Science, Mathematics, etc.
Many famous biographies are also counted in the non-fiction books.
What would happen if books, either fiction or non-fiction were not printed anymore?
One of the modes of communication’ will be stopped. The messages won’t reach people because the internet can fail or lose at any time and we won’t be able to communicate. It is very challenging to read downloaded books on screen. Eyes hurt very much, gadgets need light on the screen to read and should be charged but there’s no such requirement with books. And those people on the street who are struggling to sell books their financial condition would be ruined. But a writer can’t be provoked by others not to write books.
I remember a man; I had asked him what kind of novel he liked. I was astonished by his answer because his thinking is quite narrow he had said, “Novels are useless, because all are irrelevant, don’t have any logic in it. In non-fictitious books or the field of science, things are relevant because those are proven.” I was astonished because he and I are Bengalis and books are very important in our culture, he was fully disrespecting all writers and their work. I have many friends from different professions like doctors, business, and teachers, and have a good habit of reading books, but they aren’t Bengalis but they respect the novels and the writers, well I can’t do anything about it nobody can change anyone’s thinking but they can change their thinking from their own.
Here are some perspectives of some famous scientists on books:
Carl Segan viewed books as “proof that humans are capable of human magic,” highlighting their power to transfer knowledge across time and space.
Albert Einstein loved mystery novels, saying they helped him think through scientific problems creatively.
Stephen Hawking believed books make it possible to spread knowledge to millions, emphasizing their role in education and outreach.
In conclusion, books enrich our everyday lives by offering knowledge, entertainment, and a means to understand different perspectives. They foster personal growth, improve empathy, and stimulate our minds. Whether it is a novel, a biography, or a textbook. Books are vital tools that encourage and educate us, making them an essential part of our daily routine.
By: Amartya Saha
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