Dear Lahna,
Your question made me think about how words change. The dictionary adds new words and definitions all the time.
The latest update to the Oxford English Dictionary added jelly, meaning jealous. It also included drop bear. That’s an imaginary scary-koala that appears in stories.
I asked my friend Nikolaus Overtoom how we got the abbreviation for ounces. He’s a professor of ancient history at Washington State University.
It turns out ounces—and later oz—evolved as words traveled from Ancient Rome through Medieval Europe and into England.
“The mixture of linguistic elements in English makes it one of the most flexible, diverse and complex … » More …
Read More ...Dear Sofia,
Every week my column gets printed on paper. Sometimes I use paper to dry my paws. Or clean up after I use the litterbox.
I asked my friend Xiuyu Wang who invented paper—and why. He studies Chinese history at Washington State University.
He told me that paper as we know it was invented in ancient China. Paper made it easier to wrap things up and write things down.
“Papermaking is one of the most significant inventions because paper does so many things,” Wang said. “People kept refining it and making different kinds of paper.”
The earliest paper fragments we have are … » More …
Read More ...Dear Audrey,
I use a calendar to keep up with my work as a science cat. I also love calendar apps that count down to big events—like my birthday. People have always tracked time for work and holidays.
I talked about this with my friend Nikolaus Overtoom. He’s a professor of ancient history at Washington State University.
He told me we use the Gregorian calendar today. That's a revised version of the Julian calendar. The Romans invented the Julian calendar.
Read More ...Dear Anika,
A pirate’s life was dangerous. They attacked other ships and battled other pirates as well as the law. But they were also at the mercy of another foe: sickness.
I talked about this with my friend Lawrence Hatter. He’s a history professor at Washington State University.
He told me the big era for pirates was 1710 to 1730. It was a time when lots of sailors were out of work. Some of them became pirates.
Here are four kinds of disease they might face on the job: scurvy, mosquito-borne diseases, infectious diseases and gangrene.
Read More ...