The Wide-Ranging Value of Cloth

“From the moment we’re wrapped in a blanket at birth, we are surrounded by textiles. They cover our bodies, bedeck our beds, and carpet our floors. Textiles give us seat belts and sofa cushions, tents and bath towels, medical masks and duct tape. They are everywhere.” (The Fabric of Civilization, p. 3)

The history and science of textiles are amazing. At the beginning: early agriculture not only altered food crops, but also created new and better strains of fabric-producing plants. And early herdsmen selectively bred sheep to produce individuals that yielded better wool and improved the process of obtaining fleece.

Weaving these fibers depends on the understanding of numbers — fundamental mathematics is a key to threading a loom, whether the weaver is conscious of it or not. And the earliest use of programming using punch cards was in weaving: “at the turn of the nineteenth century Joseph-Marie Jacquard used punch cards to select warp threads and …his invention inspired Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, the digital precursor to the computer.”

Spinning fiber into thread was a key skill for virtually all women prior to the Industrial Revolution, when the new invention of the spinning jenny multiplied efficiency in a staggering way. Later, synthetic fabric dyes involved a variety of new chemistry concepts. Natural dyes had historically been derived from invertebrates such as the snail called the murex, which contributed the reds and purples of highly symbolic royal clothing in antiquity. Certain tiny beetles were also a key dye source for European textiles, but better ones had been cultivated by the Aztecs, changing the European expectation of colors for clothing. More biology: a precursor of the French researcher Pasteur discovered the role of micro-organisms in pathology by diagnosing the cause of a particular disease of silkworms.

The interconnections of science with textile invention and production go on and on. From very early times, the complex processing of indigo from plant to color-fast dye had required a variety of experiments in practical chemistry. In the 20th century, polymer chemistry was developed at least in part to assist the invention of synthetic fibers. Ongoing research now seems to be leading to the invention of clothing with artificial intelligence built in.

The importance of cloth in international trade in the early modern era inspired many economic advances, such as the development of letters of credit, an early form of banking. Indeed, textiles have played a significant role in commerce and trade throughout human history. At times they have even served as a fundamental medium of exchange, where bolts of cloth, with a standardized value, could be exchanged for other commodities.

Textiles are beautiful. For centuries, the extraordinary silks made in China used techniques that were unequalled elsewhere. Similarly, the cotton fabrics made in India were more comfortable and colorful than European goods. The cultural role of certain textile patterns is a key to identity in sub-Saharan Africa — though the patters originated in Indonesia and elsewhere. The right to wear particular fabrics or styles was often part of the social stratification of European and other societies.

The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World — where I learned all these diverse facts which I just dumped out of my head — is an overwhelming book! Author Virginia Postrel explored the scientific, mathematical, economic, and social impact of the constant demand for fabric not only for clothing, but also for transportation (critically important parts of ships like sails!) for households (like rugs and draperies), for shelter (like tents) and many other key features of human life from prehistory through the current era of high tech.

“Throughout history the desire for more and better cloth has driven technological innovation, from hybrid silkworms to digital knitting, from belt drives to bills of exchange. The sheer ubiquity of textiles—and the money to be made in producing and selling them—amplifies their influence. They spark the imagination of scientists and inventors, investors and entrepreneurs, mercenaries and idealists. Change textiles and you change the world.” (p. 218)

There are a number of illustrations in the book, though I wished for more diagrams about the way a loom works.
Here: From the scroll Pictures of Tilling and Weaving after Lou Shu, attributed to Cheng Qi, active mid- to late thirteenth century
(Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1954.20)

Review © 2022 mae sander.

Images from the book.