A Famous 15-year-old Blind Inventor

When inventors are mentioned, most of us have a picture in our mind of an absent-minded professor, with grey hair sticking up all over the place, and thick spectacles, sliding down their nose. However, there's no age limit on having great, original ideas, and some of the inventions we take for granted these days are around because of the foresight and knowledge of teenagers barely out of school. Here is a story of a famous teenage inventor, Louis Braille (1809 - 1852)

Braille became blind at the age of 3, following an accident in his father's workshop. He was educated at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. When he was 12, a former soldier called Charles Barbier introduced the students to his invention - night writing - a system of 12 raised dots which allowed soldiers to transmit confidential information without speaking.

Braille improved on Barbier's invention, and by the age of 15 had perfected the Braille system which is still used as a universal reading method for the blind today. He published the first Braille book in 1829.

Article Source: Sciences360