For years now I’ve used a FriXion erasable pen from Pilot for all my non-digital writing. But recently I found myself stranded without my pen and w

MILLER’S BOOK REVIEW 📚

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2024-03-30 13:30:05

For years now I’ve used a FriXion erasable pen from Pilot for all my non-digital writing. But recently I found myself stranded without my pen and was forced to use—of all things—a No. 2 pencil, as if I were back in grade school. I loved it!

I enjoyed the slight scratchy sensation of pushing and dragging the sharpened graphite across the page, leaving a slender trail in the shape of whatever letters I chose. People have been reliant on this humble tool since the early modern era, refining it through the centuries and fussing over finding the ideal version.

Though we sometimes call the narrow cylinder at the core of a pencil “lead,” it’s not. Graphite does have metallic properties; it can, for instance, conduct electricity. But graphite is composed of pure carbon, same as diamonds. The differing molecular structure of all those carbon atoms allows one to look good on a ring finger and the other to leave legible marks on surfaces, such as . . . sheep.

The English often receive credit for discovering graphite. Supposedly, a tree fell over in the Cumbrian Lake District in the middle sixteenth century and its upturned roots revealed an underlying mineral deposit that resembled coal. It also resembled lead, which provided the name plumbago from the Latin word for the ore. 1