The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20071029154030/http://www.britannica.com:80/eb/article-9108527/papermaking

Already a member?
LOGIN

Encyclopædia Britannica - the Online Encyclopedia

Search:
Browse: Subjects A to Z The Index
This Article's
Table of Contents
Introduction
The papermaking process
Historical development
Fibre sources
Processes for preparing pulp
Manufacture of paper and paperboard
The world paper industry
Paper properties and uses
Substance and quantity measurement
Strength and durability
Optical properties
Paper grades
Additional Reading
Print this Table of Contents
article 176Shopping


New! 2007 Encyclopædia Britannica Print Set
Revised, updated, and still unrivaled.


2008 Britannica Ultimate DVD/CD-ROM
The world's premier software reference source.


Great Books of the Western World
The greatest written works in one magnificent collection.

Visit Britannica Store

papermaking

Encyclopædia Britannica Article
Page  1  of  30 
Print PagePrint ArticleE-mail ArticleCite Article
Send comments or suggest changes to this article  Share full article with your Readers

formation of a matted or felted sheet, usually of cellulose fibres, from water suspension on a wire screen. Paper is the basic material used for written communication and the dissemination of information. In addition, paper and paperboard provide materials for hundreds of other uses, such as wrapping, packaging, toweling, insulating, and photography.

The word paper…

papermaking... (75 of 12852 words)


arrowTo read the full article, activate your FREE Trial


Close

Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your website or blog-post

If you think a reference to this article on papermaking will enhance your website, blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article, and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service. You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.

To know more about this feature, click here

Copy and paste this code into your page
'; document.write(s); } // END OF FUNCTION // BEGIN VARIABLES google_ad_client = 'ca-britannica-site_js'; google_ad_channel = 'search_result_detail'; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_ad_type = 'text+image+flash'; google_kw = britKeywordString; google_kw_type = 'broad'; google_max_num_ads = '3'; google_safe = 'high'; google_ad_width = '300'; google_ad_height = '250'; google_language = 'en'; // -->


To cite this page:

Back to top

1105 Start your free trial
Shop the Britannica Store!

More from Britannica on "papermaking"...
116 Encyclopædia Britannica articles, from the full 32 volume encyclopedia
>papermaking
formation of a matted or felted sheet, usually of cellulose fibres, from water suspension on a wire screen. Paper is the basic material used for written communication and the dissemination of information. In addition, paper and paperboard provide materials for hundreds of other uses, such as wrapping, packaging, toweling, insulating, and photography.
>The papermaking process
    from the papermaking article
>twin wire process
 in papermaking, modification of the Fourdrinier process using two wire mesh belts instead of one to form the pulp into paper. See Fourdrinier machine.
>Historical development
    from the papermaking article
Papermaking can be traced to about AD 105, when Ts'ai Lun, an official attached to the Imperial court of China, created a sheet of paper using mulberry and other bast fibres along with fishnets, old rags, and hemp waste. In its slow travel westward, the art of papermaking reached Samarkand, in Central Asia, in 751; and in 793 the first paper was made in Baghdad during the ...
>Paper properties and uses
    from the papermaking article
Used in a wide variety of forms, paper and paperboard are characterized by a wide range of properties. In the thousands of paper varieties available, some properties differ only slightly and others grossly. The identification and expression of these differences depend upon the application of standard test methods, generally specified by industry and engineering ...

More results >

19 Student Encyclopedia Britannica articles, specially written for elementary and high school students
Papermaking
    from the paper article
In most countries nearly all paper is made by machines. The most widely used machines are the Fourdrinier and the cylinder.
History of Papermaking
    from the paper article
Paper gets its name from the Egyptian papyrus plant, used to make paperlike sheets as early as 2300 BC (see Papyrus Plant). The Chinese, before discovering how to make paper, wrote on tablets of silk or bamboo. Europeans recorded documents on the skins of calves, lambs, sheep, and goats.
Papermaking and Firearms
    from the science article
By the 13th century papermaking spread throughout Europe. Paper was a Chinese invention. It had been adopted by the Persians and then by the Arabs, who brought the art to Europe. (See also paper.)
Bury
The borough of Bury is located in the metropolitan area of Greater Manchester, England. The River Irwell flows through the borough, which stretches from Pennine moorland in the north to within 4 miles (6.5 kilometers) of the center of Manchester in the south. Major motorways cross it in both directions.
Weights and sizes of paper.
    from the paper article
 The weight of a paper is determined by weighing several sheets of paper of uniform size. In the United States printing papers are sold in reams of 500 sheets. Ream sizes and weights are based on the old method of papermaking when paper was made in individual sheets and the sheet mold determined the paper's dimensions.

More articles >