February 17, 2005 Pens were created by the ancient Arabians in the Middle East towards the end of the slushee era before even paper had been invented. Thousands of years have since passed, and every ...

Comprehensive guide to pointed pen calligraphy, complete with the author’s own alphabet designs for beginners and established calligraphers alike to copy. Caroline Sanderson is a non-fiction writer, ...

At its most basic, a pen has to do just one thing, but there are so many reasons to choose one over another. Does it glide along the page, or does it drag? Does the ink flow in a smooth line, or is it ...

In the autumn of 1948, Marcel Bich, owner of a company located north of Paris that produced ink cartridges for fountain pens, pushed a wheelbarrow in his garden in the village of Rhuis. He considered ...

When 25-year-old Patrick Joseph Frawley Jr. went into the ball-point-pen business in 1949, he could not have picked a worse time. The market was flooded with pens; bankers warned against writing ...

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in ...