Braille

Inventor

Louis Braille (1809-52) was blind himself due to an accident in childhood. He attended one of the first schools dedicated to the education of blind children. In order to teach reading they had book with raised letters but this was impractical and bulky with limited knowledge. Braille was inspired by the code used in the military that was made up of raised bumps and dashed meant to be read with the fingers. In combat this allowed them to communicate strategy without divulging their locations. Braille saw the potential and the increased flexibility of this method. He then in 1824 had a refined system of with raised dots in certain combinations to create the alphabet. Later more tools were added to help visually impaired people read on their own and even write. His invention was not widely adopted until after his death but Louis Braille made a huge impact on reading and books for future generations.