Plastic surgery is the fad of the era among celebrities today. The term ‘plastic’ comes from the Greek word ‘plastikos’ which means ‘to mould or shape’. Plastic surgeries using modern techniques gained popularity not until 20th century. Nevertheless, the idea has existed since ancient times. The history of surgical sciences credits the ancient Indian physician Sushruta as the first ‘surgeon’…
Nail growth differs from person to person due to factors such as age, gender, health, weather, and hygiene. Fingernails grow much faster than toenails. A fingernail takes four to six months to grow from cuticle to tip, whereas toenails may take up to 12 to 18 months. There is a discrepancy of growth rate even…
The year was 1938. World War II was about to begin. A wonderful invention, which only became ubiquitous with time, happened: The ballpoint pen. The biro, or the first ballpoint pen, was named after its inventor Ladislao José Biro (1899–1985). Biro was a Hungarian journalist and painter. On his visit to a newspaper printing press, he could not help…
The modern day violin was first designed in Italy by Andrea Amati, of the Amati family, in the 1500s. Future generations of the Amati family – sons Antonio and Girolami and grandson Nicolo Amati – perfected the art of making this musical instrument. Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri, Nicolo’s pupils, further improvised the design eventually…
Cotton gets its name from the Arabic word ‘qutun’, which means fine textile or fabric. Archaeologists have found samples of cotton fabric, as old as 7000 years, at the sites of ancient civilizations, such as Mohenjo Daro, Egypt, and Mexico. Nonetheless, it is difficult to determine the exact period or place when cotton was first…
Ancient Indian mathematician Baudhayana is perhaps the first person to calculate the value of ‘pi’. In his text Baudhayana Shulba Sutra, he mentions that the perimeter of the pit is thrice its diameter, so the approximate value of π is 3. Since Baudhayana was essentially a priest, he used mathematical calculations for facilitating religious constructions…
