Paper is a product that consists of fibres (that have been separated with stirring in water and transformed into paper pulp), mainly of cellulose and of other plant origin or sometimes even from inorganic, animal or synthetic fibres. It is produced when the pulp, after the appropriate procedures, is stretched out in a flat surface, passed through a pressing system and wrapped in rolls, after it is dried up.

Adhesive substances are not used. The auto bonding of fibres is based on their mechanical plot and on their ability to form chemical bonds, the hydrogen bridges. The absolute elasticity and force of paper in relation to its density can exceed also that of steel. Nevertheless, various additives are used, in order to improve one or more attributes (resistance to humidity, transparency, printing, colour, etc).

The plant Cyperus Papyrus

The English word for paper derives from the word papyrus, which is the hydrophilic plant Cyperus Papyrus that develops in the banks of Nile and reaches 1-3 metres in height. The Greek word for paper (�����) derives from the diminutive for the ancient greek word ������ (ch`artees) that means 'map'. It was this word that entered the Latin vocabulary as charta and today we have the Italian and Spanish word carta. But in the english language we also have words that have the same root: cardboard, card, carton etc, even the cartoon.

In order to characterize a type of paper there are a lot of attributes that we must take into account. Mainly we should notice the whiteness, the texture and the weight in grams per square metre, which actually means noticing the brightness, the colour, the brilliance, the thickness and the density. Also we look into the humidity and the ability to adsorb humidity, the transparency, the porosity, the elasticity or rigidity, the suitability and quality of printing, resistances and the behaviours in pressure, in tearing, in bending and in drawing, the flammability, the roughness and the dimensional stability.

Depending on the characteristics and the methods of preparation, we distinguish a lot of types of paper and consequently a lot of and various uses. Thus we have the simple paper, the cotton paper (with 25%, 50%, or even 100% cotton), the recycled paper, the rice paper, the cardboard, the carbon paper, the cigarette paper, the absorbent paper (toilet paper, kitchen paper, napkins, handkerchiefs), the insulating paper (for electric insulations) etc. The paper is used in a lot of and different cases. In books, newspapers, magazines, notebooks, posters, wallpapers, printings, packaging but also in bank notes, in maps, in card playing, in identity cards and passports, receipts, stamps, in photographs. Even in objects that we can't tell they are made of paper at first: in melaminated coatings, in clothes and textile, in lightings, in various filters, in chemical tools.

It therefore becomes tangible that the modern world is based particularly on this multifaceted and so much paradoxical product. Sometimes it is permanent, other times it is ephemeral, it can he is fragile or strong, cheap or expensive, in abundance or in lack. We can see it in museums or in the trash. Sometimes it decomposes easily and other times it lasts even in water. It is industrially manufactured but it can easily be produced by hand. It is applicable in so many sectors in modern life - literature, communication, education, trade, hygiene, economy, medicine and many more still - that it is really impossible to even begin to imagine a world without paper...