Spectacles

 Old age was a threat to  the division of labor by putting people into premature retirement for bad vision. Old age was also frightening for scholars because monks and scholars made their livings based on their studies. The lens as a magnifying tool has been known since ancient times. A gradual increase in vision led to the first eyeglasses. Eyeglasses thwart the effects of old age on our vision. Robert Grosseteste a christain scholar made advances in studying the nature of light. 

Mechanical Clocks 

Life was much less orderly and regulated before the mechanical clock. By the 1200s a variety of tools were available for telling time there was the sundial, water clocks, and the hourglass. Water clocks were good but they froze in cold weather. The clock enables us to track much smaller time intervals than before. The hours of the day varied in length before the clock. Clocks began to regulate prayer time and the calendar. 

Paper Mills

The recipe and the paper-making process were known in Europe. The main ingredient was old linen rags. The spinning wheel increased demand for linen clothing but there was a problem with all the trash  (old linen clothes.) People began taking the old linen clothes and turning them into paper but then they sold it cheaply. 

The most interesting thing I learned this week and why

The most interesting thing I learned this week is the paper mills and how people used old linen rags to make paper.