So there's a thing that fascinates me.
Every now and then I look at something (my new gloves most recently)
and think about the long series of inspirations that was necessary to
result in the object that we take for granted.
Some time back in history, somebody
wrapped some animal hide around their hands to keep them warm. Or
for some other reason, and they found that warmth was a result.
Later, after basic sewing had been invented, wraps became pouches.
As sewing became more sophisticated, someone added a thumb, allowing
for basic tool use while still protecting the hands.
With higher levels of sophistication,
the mitten became the glove, reducing the protective value (mittens
are warmer than gloves), but allowing for even more tool use.
Materials became available, and people experimented with
alternatives. The glove went from simple protection to item of
fashion, and equipment for soldiers. Thin leather, boiled leather,
chain maille, leather with metal plates, leather with roughened
surface for greater grip, fingerless gloves, plastic, rubber, latex,
Gore-Tex®1
and a few hundred other possibilities.
Over the millennia, thousands upon
thousands of people looked at the basic problem and came up with new
solutions. Refinements bringing broader and more specific
functionality to something we consider so simple. Today, one can buy
gloves for nearly any purpose, from surgery to tablet use to sports
and work. Gloves come in numerous shapes, sizes, materials, colors
and prices.
But to see that chain of inspiration,
the constant re-examining of possibility. To know that there were
many failures along the way, gloves that simply didn't work for one
reason or another, or that were found to be too expensive or unwieldy
or otherwise not wanted. This is fascinating to me, this absorbs me
a times, trying to see history in a single object, to see the human
mind at work across vast spans of time.
Design and engineering are forms of
communication, in a way. The gloves we have now are the result from
thoughts had before the written word began, and we can hear something
of what that engineer so long ago had to say every time we gird
ourselves against the world.
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1Gore-Tex
is a registered trademark of W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc
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