Steve Pierce, age 15, of Hutchinson, Kan., for his question:
WHO INVENTED SHORTHAND?
Shorthand is a way of writing rapidly, using symbols or letters to represent the sounds of words. Marcus Tullius Tiro, a secretary to the Roman orator Cicero, invented a shorthand system about 50 B.C. But then during the A.D. 7009, the art of shorthand seemed to disappear.
Shorthand was revived again in England in 1588 when Timothy Bright published his "Characterie: An Art of Short, Swift and Secret Writing by Character." This was followed by "Brachygraphy" by Peter Bale.
In 1602, John Willis published "The Art of Stenography," the first attempt at a genuine alphabetical system.
Pitman's book in 1837 brought shorthand into worldwide use and the acceptance continued with Gregg's book that was published in 1888.
The Pitman method was invented by Isaac Pitman, an Englishman, in the 1830. His shorthand is characterized by the shading of strokes. Some strokes are light and others are heavy or dark.
The Gregg method was invented by John Robert Gregg, an educator born in Ireland. It is the most widely used shorthand system in the world. The Gregg symbols are based on longhand strokes and flow along in the same smooth style as longhand writing.
Shorthand is used chiefly to take dictation. Most people speak at a rate of about 140 words a minute. But a stenographer can take most dictation by writing shorthand at a rate of about 80 words a minute.
Some stenographic jobs require speeds of 120 or more words a minute. Court reporters must be able to take down conversation at a rate of at least 200 words a minute. The word record for shorthand writing saw testimony recorded at the rate of 282 words a minute for five minutes.
A shorthand machine is used to record speech rapidly and accurately. The machine has 21 lettered keys. Any number of letters may be struck at one time. The operator writes numbers by striking the numeral bar and a key bearing the desired number.
The keyboard is arranged so that the fingers of the left hand print the beginning consonants of a word, the right hand prints the concluding consonants of a word and the thumbs print the vowels. The letters C, I, J, M, N, Q, V, X, Y and Z are omitted. These letters are represented by combinations of other letters that are printed by a single stroke.
A shorthand machine operator writes by sounds, much like writers using other shorthand systems. He omits all letters of a word that are not actually pronounced.
The operator writes multistroke words one syllable at a time. The letters are printed on a narrow paper pad that moves automatically, a line with each stroke.
There are several different types of shorthand machines in use, such as the Stenograph, Stenotype and Brevitype. These machines differ in about the same way that a typewriter made by one company differs from that made by another.
Ward Stone Ireland, a stenographer and court reporter from Dallas, Texas, invented the first shorthand machine, the Stenotype, in 1910.