Language changes slowly, words accruing and altering their meanings and pronunciations over the course of decades and centuries. But sometimes we find sudden movements of seismic proportion, particularly with the history of written languages. Thus is the case with the invention of Braille, the eponymous system named for its creator, Louis Braille. And just in case you wanted to feel humbled with what all you’ve done with your life so far — Louis was only 15 when he did it.
Born in France in 1829 to a family who made a living working with leather goods for horses, little Louis was just three when he was playing with an awl in his father’s shop and accidently pierced his eye with the sharp, thin blade. Within two years he lost vision in the other eye and was completely blind.
His parents, noticing that their son had a keen and curious mind, sent him to a school for the blind called the National Institute for Blind Youth – one of the first of its kind– where Braille excelled academically and developed a strong talent and skill in playing music. At the time, there actually were a few books that had been crafted to be read by touch — these had been made starting in the late 1700s with a hand-crafted and expensive process involving raised letters embossed on top of heavy paper: the Haüy system. (See second photo.) Louis couldn’t write with it, and wanted more to read.
And so, he figured out his now famous system using patterns of six raised dots, and came up with 64 characters that represented letters and sounds that people all around the world use today. His first book , published on 1829 and shown here, was called _Method of Writing Words, Music, and Plain Songs by Means of Dots for Use by the Blind and Arranged for Them_. Despite the system’s ease of use, it took a while for Louis Braille’s work to be accepted by his school. Eventually Louis became a teacher at his alma mater and wrote several other works promoting Braille before he died when he was 43.
Braille of course has been translated into many languages and is used all across the world today.
P.s. wanna know how he got blind in his other eye? Sure you do, but it’s gross. There is a condition called “Sympathetic Ophthalmia” that happens when one eye is punctured. T-cells flare up in the eye that don’t normally, because the eyes are usually protected from any chance of over-active immune system flare-ups. And that’s because what can happen is that the eye’s antigen microbes are destroyed, but then the immune system continues the fight and attacks its own tissues, eventually spreading to the other eye and . . . Well, maybe don’t Google it. Thanks to @bioprofbarker for the anecdote in her lecture on autoimmunity available online!
Source(s): Perkins School for the Blind, “Braille’s Most Famous Book,” Aug 16, 2016, Bill Winter. wikipedia.
