[HN Gopher] The Beauty of Chalk
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       The Beauty of Chalk
        
       Author : TheIronYuppie
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2023-10-31 13:55 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.plough.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.plough.com)
        
       | Wistar wrote:
       | Although briefly mentioned on the essay, the Hagoromo Fulltouch
       | Chalk is great. I still have a few boxes of it from the mid-90s.
       | Thing is, I don't have a chalkboard on which to use it.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagoromo_Bungu
        
       | onetimeuse92304 wrote:
       | > writing with chalk is slower than with a "smelly pen,"
       | 
       | I don't know... I studied theoretical math and my professors were
       | definitely giving me a good workout trying to write down from the
       | chalkboard.
        
         | SoftTalker wrote:
         | I had a math teacher in high school who would write with one
         | hand and erase with the other. You had to be quick with your
         | note-taking!
        
       | earthboundkid wrote:
       | The widespread replacement of chalkboards with whiteboards has
       | been the replacement of a good technology by a much worse one.
       | It's terrible.
        
       | chrisweekly wrote:
       | Chalkdust is torture for some of us. My eyes sting and redden and
       | involuntarily squeeze shut in the presence of a typical
       | moderately-used chalkboard.
        
         | throw_pm23 wrote:
         | Same can be said about the whiteboard cleaning liquid and the
         | smelly markers as well.
        
         | treyd wrote:
         | Similarly for me, chalk dust on my hands causes quite a bit of
         | sensory discomfort. And when writing I feel like I continually
         | have to brace myself for ???something??? while doing it.
        
       | meindnoch wrote:
       | Isn't chalk dust pretty bad for your lungs?
        
         | deodar wrote:
         | Yes. This is misplaced nostalgia. I am biased though - I simply
         | cannot stand the sound of chalk grating against a blackboard.
        
           | jareklupinski wrote:
           | the 'tak tak tak' of the chalk hitting the board with each
           | letter hit a similar vibe as a clacky keyboard
        
         | throw_pm23 wrote:
         | Yes, the only thing worse is the smell of the whiteboard
         | markers and the cleaning liquid.
        
       | FigurativeVoid wrote:
       | On thing that I never realized is that chalk is much better over
       | longer distances in larger classrooms.
       | 
       | When I took organic chemistry in a lecture hall that seated 200,
       | the professor used larger chalk and you could easily see it in
       | the entire hall. A regular marker would be too fine to see. I
       | don't think that you could have a larger marker as the ink
       | reservoir would be large and unwieldy. Plus it would probably
       | drain rather quickly.
        
         | KineticLensman wrote:
         | > chalk is much better over longer distances in larger
         | classrooms
         | 
         | That entirely depends on how accurately the lecturer can throw
         | a tiny object. IIRC some of our lecturers preferred board
         | rubbers to the chalk itself.
        
           | seabass-labrax wrote:
           | Presumably, lecturers in classical Newtonian physics have a
           | greater ability to effectively use difficult materials such
           | as chalk than those lecturers of more abstract subjects.
        
       | jjtheblunt wrote:
       | Oh my goodness, this article misses an unbelievable classic, and
       | from one of the great professors of my grad school youth, A
       | Topological Picturebook, by George Francis.
       | 
       | https://a.co/d/8TOdLJE
        
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       (page generated 2023-10-31 23:01 UTC)