7/24/2021: Errata
Alas, in the 7/24/201 issue, I noticed content errors in para. 8, under “ERASER.”
The paragraph was previously written as follows:
“Of course, rubber ended up having a lot of other uses besides erasure. According to reports from Christopher Columbus, South American Indians and Haitians were already using rubber for sports and footwear when he arrived on the scene (Britannica.com) . . .”
This has been corrected (in the website version only—not in the previous newsletter email) to:
“Of course, rubber ended up having a lot of other uses besides erasure. Ancient peoples from Mesoamerica were using a latex material culled from trees as balls for sports (Dorothy Hosler, et al., “Prehistoric Polymers . . .” ). Columbus found indigenous peoples of Haiti playing a game with latex balls (Charles E. Carraher. Carraher's Polymer Chemistry, eighth edition, 302).
Later in 1615, Spanish writer Torquemada reported that Haitians were using the substance to make footwear and “bottles” (Christopher Cumo, Ed., Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants, 904). . . .”