Everything about Stylus totally explained
A
stylus (plural:
styli or
styluses) is a
writing utensil. The word is also used for a computer accessory (
PDAs). It usually refers to a narrow elongated staff, similar to a modern
ballpoint pen. Many styluses are heavily curved to be held more easily.
Styli were first used by the ancient Mesopotamians in order to write in
cuneiform, usually made out of
reeds that grew on the sides of the
Tigris and
Euphrates rivers and in
marshes and down to Egypt where the Egyptians used styluses from sliced reeds with sharp points. Cuneiform was entirely based on the "wedge-shaped" mark that the end of a cut reed made when pushed into a
clay tablet, hence the name "cuneiform" from
Latin cuneus = "
wedge".
Function
Styli were used from classical times until the nineteenth century to write on
wax tablets (
tabulae), which were used for various purposes, from secretaries' notes to recording accounts. Some wax-tablets have been preserved in
waterlogged deposits, for example in the
Roman fort at
Vindolanda on
Hadrian's Wall. One end of such styli was pointed for writing and the other was flattened into a broad shape for erasing.
Use in Arts
Styli are used in various arts and crafts still. Example situations: rubbing off
dry transfer letters, tracing designs onto a new surface with
carbon paper, and hand
embossing. Styli are also used to
engrave into materials like
metal or
clay.
Styli are used to make dots as found in folk art and mexican potterty artifacts. Oaxaca dot art is created using Styli.
Use in music recording and reproduction
In the
sound recording industry, a
stylus is a
phonograph or gramophone needle used to play back sound on
gramophone records, as well as to record the sound indentations on the
master record.
Several technologies were used to record the sounds, beginning with
wax cylinders. The harder the material used, the harder the stylus has to be. The styli for playing vinyl records are made out of
Sapphire or
diamond.
Modern use
Today, the term
stylus often refers to an input method usually used in
PDAs,
graphics tablets,
Tablet PCs, and
UMPCs. In this method, a stylus that secretes no ink touches a
touch screen instead of a finger to avoid getting the natural oil from one's hands on the screen.
Styli are also used with the
Nintendo DS handheld gaming device, which has two screens, the bottom one being touch-sensitive.
A stylus may also be used to scribe a recording into smoked foil or glass. In various instruments this method may be used instead of a pen for recording as it has the advantage of being able to operate over a wide temperature range, doesn't clog or dry prematurely, and has very small friction in comparison to other methods. These characteristics were useful in certain types of early
seismographs and in recording
barographs used in determining
sailplane altitude records.
The sharpest stylus possible has a single
atom at its tip. Such styli are used in
scanning tunneling microscopes.
Etymology
The word stylus along with the word "style" came from the Latin word stilus meaning: "a stake; a pointed instrument, used by the
Romans, for writing upon wax tablets". The spelling was influenced by the Greek word στύλος meaning "column" or "pillar". According to the 1875 London Dictionary of Greek & Roman Antiquities a Stilus is "an object tapering like an architectural column; a metal instrument resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing or recording impressions upon waxed tablets. It signifies:
"An iron instrument (Ov. Met. IX.521; Martial, XIV.21), resembling a pencil in size and shape, used for writing upon waxed tablets (Plaut. Bacch. IV.4.63; Plin. H.N. XXXIV.14). At one end it was sharpened to a point for scratching the characters upon the wax (Quintil. i.1 §27), while the other end being flat and circular served to render the surface of the tablets smooth again, and so to obliterate what had been written. Thus, vertere stilum means to erase, and hence to correct, as in the well-known precept saepe stilum vertas (Hor. Sat. 1.10.72; Cic. Verr. II.41)."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Stylus'.
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