Trivia

Hard

Which Of These Authors Invented A System For Taking Notes In The Dark?

Lewis Carroll
Stephen King
H.G. Wells
George Orwell
A reconstruction of a nyctograph with a five euro cent coin for size comparison.
Noah Slater/Wikimedia

Answer: Lewis Carroll

Although best known for his iconic works centered on Wonderland, such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll was quite a Renaissance man with a number of inventions under his belt, nearly a dozen books written on the subjects of mathematics and logic, and a keen eye for photography.

Among his inventions, perhaps the most curious is a night time writing device he created in order to pen down his thoughts without the effort of lighting a lamp and getting out of bed. The device, known as a nyctograph, was a grid of sixteen squares arranged in an 8×2 format. The note taker would use the grid and a knowledge of the companion symbol system to take notes in total darkness as each symbol relied on a series of lines and dots that could be written down solely by using the edges of each square as a guide.

For those of you that recall the early days of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), you might find Carroll’s system a bit reminiscent of the Graffiti script system that appeared on early Palm devices to assist the user in transcribing notes via the relatively primitive touch interface.

More Trivia Questions

Trivia

Hard

What Is The Tallest Structure In The United States?

Trivia

Hard

Early Bootleg Records Sold In Russia Were Made Of?

Trivia

Hard

Decommissioned Satellites Are Crashed Into An Ocean Location Known As?

Trivia

Easy

Sideburns, The Facial Hair Style, Derive Their Name From?

Trivia

Easy

Which One Of These Common Idioms Was Originally An Advertising Slogan?

Trivia

Hard

Male Mosquitoes Feed Exclusively On?

Trivia

Hard

The Inventor Of The Water Bed Was Denied A Patent Because Of Which Sci-Fi Author?

Trivia

Hard

The Handkerchief Was Popularized By?

Trivia

Hard

Instead Of The Lunar Rover, NASA Considered Using Which Of The Following Instead?

Trivia

Hard

Captain Kirk’s Uniform Top In Star Trek Appeared Gold On Screen, But Was Actually?