sentence: Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species.
sentences_before: Writing differs from speech because 'the readers need not be present at the time'. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world. It works across time and space. It stores and communicates knowledge.
sentences_after: It was invented after people had settled in towns, and after agriculture had started. Writing dates from about 3,300BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East.
concept_name: writing
headings: Writing
categories: Basic English 850 words History of technology