The invention of the fluorescent marking pen, a software for visually emphasizing textual content, is credited to Dr. Frank Honn within the late Nineteen Sixties whereas working for Carter’s Ink Firm. His creation utilized a fluorescent ink encased in a felt-tipped barrel, permitting for straightforward utility and vibrant colour distinction on the web page.
This seemingly easy innovation dramatically altered how folks work together with written materials. It facilitated environment friendly finding out, fast referencing, and improved info retention by enabling readers to focus on key passages and ideas. This visible assist revolutionized note-taking practices throughout academic, skilled, and private domains, streamlining info processing and enhancing communication.
The next improvement and widespread adoption of this writing instrument spurred additional improvements in ink formulations, tip designs, and colour varieties. From its preliminary inception, this now ubiquitous software continues to evolve, adapting to the ever-changing wants of readers and writers alike.
1. Dr. Frank Honn
Dr. Frank Honn holds a pivotal place within the historical past of stationery because the inventor of the highlighter. His work at Carter’s Ink Firm straight led to the creation of this now ubiquitous writing software, endlessly altering how folks work together with textual content.
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Chemical Innovation
Honn’s experience in chemistry was essential to growing the highlighter’s vibrant, translucent inks. These inks allowed readers to mark textual content with out obscuring it, a key function distinguishing highlighters from conventional markers. His formulation supplied a sensible utility for fluorescent dyes, making them commonplace in on a regular basis life.
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Collaboration with Carter’s Ink Firm
Honn’s employment at Carter’s Ink Firm supplied the sources and manufacturing capabilities essential to convey his invention to market. This partnership ensured the profitable manufacturing and distribution of the highlighter, remodeling an modern thought right into a broadly accessible product.
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Influence on Studying and Studying
Whereas Honn’s focus was doubtless on the chemical composition and sensible utility of the ink, the highlighter’s impression extends far past its technical elements. The flexibility to focus on textual content considerably improved studying comprehension, note-taking, and knowledge retention, profoundly influencing academic {and professional} practices.
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Legacy of Innovation
Honn’s invention sparked additional innovation in writing devices. The highlighter’s success led to the event of varied ink colours, tip sizes, and even specialised highlighters for various surfaces. His preliminary idea continues to encourage developments in highlighting expertise.
Dr. Frank Honn’s contribution extends past the invention itself. He not solely created a sensible software but additionally initiated a shift in how people have interaction with written info, leaving an enduring impression on communication, schooling, {and professional} fields.
2. Carter’s Ink Firm
Carter’s Ink Firm performed an important position within the invention of the highlighter. Whereas Dr. Frank Honn developed the fluorescent ink and preliminary idea, Carter’s supplied the important infrastructure and sources that introduced the highlighter to market. Understanding Carter’s involvement supplies beneficial context surrounding this now-ubiquitous writing software.
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Manufacturing Capabilities
Carter’s already established manufacturing processes and services have been important for producing the highlighter on a big scale. Their experience in ink manufacturing, packaging, and distribution enabled environment friendly manufacturing and widespread availability of the brand new product. This industrial capability remodeled Honn’s invention from an idea right into a readily accessible software for customers.
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Advertising and Distribution Community
Leveraging its current distribution community, Carter’s successfully launched the highlighter to a broad shopper base. Their established market presence and retail partnerships performed a pivotal position within the product’s speedy adoption inside academic, skilled, and private settings. This strategic benefit ensured widespread recognition and accessibility of the modern writing software.
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Analysis and Growth Sources
Carter’s dedication to analysis and improvement doubtless fostered an setting conducive to innovation. The corporate’s funding in exploring new supplies and applied sciences supplied the required framework for Honn’s work to flourish. This dedication to ongoing development inside the firm facilitated the highlighter’s preliminary improvement and subsequent refinements.
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Model Recognition and Belief
Carter’s established status for high quality stationery merchandise lent credibility to the brand new highlighter. Shoppers conversant in and trusting the Carter’s model have been extra prone to embrace this novel writing instrument. This current model recognition considerably contributed to the highlighter’s market acceptance and industrial success.
Carter’s Ink Firm’s contribution prolonged past merely producing the highlighter. The corporate’s manufacturing capabilities, distribution community, analysis focus, and established model status have been instrumental in remodeling Dr. Honn’s invention into the well known and utilized software it’s at this time. Their integral position underscores the advanced interaction between particular person ingenuity and company infrastructure in bringing innovation to market.
3. Late Nineteen Sixties
The late Nineteen Sixties supplies important historic context for the invention of the highlighter. This period witnessed important cultural and technological shifts that influenced the event and reception of this now-common writing software. Inspecting this era illuminates the elements contributing to the highlighter’s emergence and subsequent impression.
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Submit-Struggle Financial Increase
The post-World Struggle II financial growth facilitated progress within the stationery business. Elevated disposable revenue and increasing academic alternatives fueled demand for workplace and faculty provides, making a receptive marketplace for modern merchandise just like the highlighter. This financial prosperity supplied fertile floor for the highlighter’s industrial success.
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Rise of Shopper Tradition
The late Nineteen Sixties noticed a burgeoning shopper tradition emphasizing comfort and private expression. The highlighter, as a software selling environment friendly studying and individualized interplay with textual content, aligned completely with these rising shopper values. This cultural shift contributed to the highlighter’s widespread adoption as a private {and professional} software.
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Developments in Printing and Dye Applied sciences
Developments in printing applied sciences and the provision of brighter, extra secure fluorescent dyes have been essential for the highlighter’s feasibility. These technological developments allowed for the manufacturing of vibrant, translucent inks that didn’t obscure underlying textual content, a defining function of the highlighter. With out these developments, the highlighter as we all know it could not have been doable.
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Increasing Greater Schooling
The growth of upper schooling throughout this era created elevated demand for efficient examine instruments. The highlighter supplied college students a easy but highly effective methodology for organizing info and emphasizing key ideas, straight addressing this want. This rising scholar inhabitants supplied a major marketplace for the highlighter, contributing to its early success.
The convergence of those elements within the late Nineteen Sixties created a singular setting conducive to the highlighter’s invention and speedy adoption. The post-war financial increase, rising consumerism, technological developments, and increasing academic panorama all performed essential roles in shaping the highlighter’s improvement and remodeling it from a novel thought into an indispensable software for hundreds of thousands.
4. Fluorescent Ink
Fluorescent ink is inextricably linked to the invention of the highlighter. This specialised ink is the defining attribute of the highlighter, enabling its distinctive performance and distinguishing it from different writing devices. Understanding the properties and improvement of fluorescent ink is important to understanding the highlighter’s origin and impression.
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Vibrancy and Visibility
Fluorescent inks possess a singular capacity to soak up and re-emit mild at an extended wavelength, leading to an intensely vibrant colour that stands out towards the web page. This heightened visibility is essential for the highlighter’s perform, making marked textual content readily obvious and facilitating fast referencing. Examples embrace the intense yellow, pink, and inexperienced inks generally utilized in highlighters. This vibrancy considerably enhances the visible impression of highlighted textual content, aiding in info processing and retention.
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Translucency and Readability
Crucially, fluorescent inks are designed to be translucent. This enables customers to mark textual content with out obscuring the underlying phrases, preserving readability. This steadiness between visibility and legibility is a key innovation of the highlighter. Think about attempting to review with an opaque ink that coated the very phrases you have been attempting to emphasise. This translucency is important for the highlighters sensible utility in studying, finding out, and annotating paperwork.
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Chemical Composition and Growth
The event of appropriate fluorescent inks was a major chemical problem. Early fluorescent dyes have been typically unstable and vulnerable to fading. Dr. Frank Honns work at Carter’s Ink Firm addressed these points, resulting in the event of extra secure and lightfast inks appropriate to be used in highlighters. This chemical innovation was a crucial step in making the highlighter a viable product.
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Selection and Evolution
Initially restricted to some fundamental colours, fluorescent inks now embody a broad spectrum, reflecting the continuing evolution of the highlighter. Specialised inks for various paper varieties and even erasable fluorescent inks have additional expanded the highlighters performance and flexibility. This ongoing improvement of ink formulations continues to boost the highlighter’s versatility and consumer expertise.
The event and utility of fluorescent ink are central to the highlighter’s invention and subsequent success. From its vibrant visibility and essential translucency to its advanced chemical composition and ongoing evolution, fluorescent ink is the defining attribute of the highlighter, enabling its distinctive performance and shaping its continued impression on how we work together with written info.
5. Felt-tipped pen
The felt-tipped pen mechanism is integral to the highlighter’s performance and represents a significant factor in its invention. Dr. Frank Honn’s innovation wasn’t solely the fluorescent ink but additionally its efficient utility via a felt tip. This supply system permits for managed ink circulate, enabling exact highlighting and minimizing smearing, options essential for the highlighter’s meant use. Think about the choice: a brush tip would ship an excessive amount of ink, obscuring textual content; a ballpoint pen wouldn’t present the broad, constant stroke wanted for highlighting. The felt tip, due to this fact, bridges the hole between the modern ink and its sensible utility, making the act of highlighting environment friendly and efficient.
The felt tip’s porosity permits it to carry and launch the fluorescent ink evenly, leading to a easy, constant spotlight. This attribute distinguishes the highlighter from different marking instruments. For instance, conventional markers typically bleed via skinny paper, whereas highlighters, due to the managed ink launch of the felt tip, usually keep away from this situation. Moreover, the felt tip’s sturdiness permits for repeated use with out fraying or dropping its form, guaranteeing constant efficiency over time. This mix of managed ink circulate, constant utility, and sturdiness contributes considerably to the highlighter’s widespread adoption and continued use in varied settings, from tutorial examine to skilled doc evaluation.
The felt-tipped pen expertise, whereas seemingly easy, was a key consider remodeling fluorescent ink right into a sensible and broadly adopted software. This alternative of applicator highlights the significance of contemplating not solely the fabric (the ink) but additionally the supply system in product improvement. The felt tip addresses the sensible challenges of making use of fluorescent ink successfully, facilitating exact and constant highlighting. This seemingly minor element considerably contributed to the highlighter’s success, demonstrating the highly effective impression of considerate design and engineering in bringing innovation to market.
6. Highlighting Textual content
Highlighting textual content is the core perform enabled by the invention of the highlighter. Understanding the observe of highlighting supplies essential context for appreciating the importance of Dr. Frank Honn’s innovation. This seemingly easy act of marking textual content has profound implications for a way people have interaction with written info, impacting studying comprehension, reminiscence retention, and general communication.
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Emphasis and Consideration Course
Highlighting serves to visually emphasize key info inside a bigger physique of textual content. By drawing the attention to particular passages, highlighting helps readers prioritize vital ideas, facilitating faster understanding and recall. For instance, a scholar finding out for an examination would possibly spotlight key definitions or formulation. This capacity to direct consideration is central to the highlighter’s utility and demonstrates the way it actively shapes the reader’s interplay with textual content. With out the highlighter, this visible cueing would require extra cumbersome strategies, reminiscent of underlining or writing notes within the margins.
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Improved Info Retention
Research counsel that highlighting can enhance reminiscence retention by actively partaking the reader with the fabric. The method of choosing what to focus on requires crucial considering and encourages deeper processing of the knowledge. This energetic engagement enhances encoding and retrieval of data. For example, a lawyer reviewing a contract would possibly spotlight essential clauses, growing the probability of remembering these particulars later. The highlighter, due to this fact, turns into a software for enhancing cognitive processing and enhancing reminiscence recall.
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Enhanced Studying Comprehension
By visually distinguishing vital info, highlighting facilitates a extra structured and environment friendly strategy to studying. This visible group aids comprehension by permitting readers to rapidly determine key themes, arguments, and supporting proof inside a textual content. Think about navigating a posh authorized doc with out the flexibility to rapidly find crucial sections. The highlighter streamlines this course of, making info extra accessible and digestible, thereby enhancing general studying comprehension.
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Facilitated Communication and Collaboration
Highlighting additionally performs a job in communication and collaboration. Shared paperwork with highlighted sections enable for environment friendly conveyance of key info between people. For instance, an editor would possibly spotlight instructed revisions in a manuscript, clearly speaking suggestions to the creator. This shared visible language streamlines communication and facilitates collaborative work processes.
The observe of highlighting textual content is intrinsically linked to the invention of the highlighter. Dr. Honn’s creation supplied a sensible and environment friendly software for reaching these advantages, remodeling how folks work together with written info. The highlighters impression on studying comprehension, reminiscence retention, and communication underscores its significance as a software that extends past easy marking to actively shaping how we course of and have interaction with textual content.
7. Improved Studying
The invention of the highlighter straight impacted studying practices, resulting in enhancements in comprehension, retention, and general effectivity. Inspecting the connection between improved studying and the highlighter reveals the importance of this seemingly easy writing software.
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Energetic Studying and Engagement
The highlighter encourages energetic studying by prompting customers to make selections about which info is most vital. This energetic engagement with the textual content enhances comprehension and retention. A scholar highlighting key ideas in a textbook just isn’t passively absorbing info however actively processing and prioritizing it. This energetic studying course of is a direct consequence of the highlighter’s performance and contributes considerably to improved studying outcomes. The very act of selecting what to focus on necessitates a deeper engagement with the fabric.
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Visible Group and Construction
Highlighters present a visible framework for organizing info inside a textual content. By color-coding completely different ideas or highlighting key arguments, readers can create a visible construction that aids comprehension and recall. For example, a lawyer reviewing a posh authorized doc may spotlight completely different clauses in distinct colours, creating a visible illustration of the doc’s construction. This visible group, facilitated by the highlighter, simplifies advanced info, making it simpler to navigate and perceive.
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Environment friendly Evaluate and Recall
Highlighted textual content serves as a visible cue, facilitating faster evaluation and improved recall of key info. When revisiting a doc, the highlighted sections instantly draw the attention to crucial factors, enabling environment friendly evaluation and reinforcing reminiscence. A physician rapidly referencing highlighted sections in a affected person’s medical historical past can effectively entry crucial info. This speedy entry to essential particulars is a direct good thing about utilizing a highlighter and considerably contributes to improved studying effectivity in skilled settings.
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Customized Studying and Adaptation
The highlighter permits readers to personalize their interplay with textual content. People can tailor their highlighting practices to their particular wants and studying kinds. A visible learner would possibly spotlight extensively, whereas a kinesthetic learner would possibly use the highlighter extra sparingly. This adaptability makes the highlighter a flexible software that helps various studying preferences and contributes to a extra personalised and efficient studying expertise. This individualized strategy enhances the highlighter’s utility throughout a variety of studying contexts and studying kinds.
The invention of the highlighter facilitated a shift in the direction of extra energetic, visually organized, and environment friendly studying practices. By enabling readers to emphasise key info, construction advanced texts, and rapidly evaluation vital particulars, the highlighter demonstrably improves studying comprehension and retention. This easy software has grow to be integral to studying {and professional} environments, demonstrating the profound impression of Dr. Honns invention on how we work together with and perceive written info.
8. Word-taking Assist
The highlighter, invented by Dr. Frank Honn, considerably impacted note-taking practices. Its capacity to visually emphasize key info inside a textual content remodeled how people arrange and course of info, making the highlighter an important software for college students and professionals alike. Inspecting the highlighter’s position as a note-taking assist reveals its contribution to improved studying, enhanced group, and environment friendly info retrieval.
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Emphasis and Prioritization
Highlighters allow customers to emphasise key info inside notes, lectures, or readings. This visible distinction permits for fast identification of core ideas, vital dates, or crucial definitions. A scholar attending a lecture would possibly spotlight key phrases talked about by the professor. This visible prioritization aids in organizing info and focusing consideration on essentially the most related particulars, facilitating simpler studying and evaluation. The highlighter, due to this fact, transforms passive note-taking into an energetic technique of figuring out and prioritizing key info.
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Improved Group and Construction
Utilizing completely different highlighter colours permits for color-coding and visible categorization inside notes. This visible group enhances the construction and readability of notes, making advanced info extra accessible and simpler to navigate. A medical scholar would possibly use completely different colours to focus on completely different organ programs inside anatomy notes, creating a visible map of the human physique. This color-coding system facilitates environment friendly retrieval of data and helps a deeper understanding of advanced matters. The highlighter, on this context, turns into a software for visually structuring info, enhancing comprehension and recall.
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Environment friendly Evaluate and Recall
Highlighted sections inside notes function visible cues, facilitating faster evaluation and improved recall. When revisiting notes, the highlighted info instantly stands out, permitting for environment friendly identification of key ideas and decreasing evaluation time. A legislation scholar making ready for an examination can rapidly evaluation highlighted case briefs, effectively recalling crucial authorized precedents. This speedy entry to key info helps simpler examine habits and contributes to improved tutorial efficiency. The highlighter turns into a beneficial software for optimizing examine time and enhancing info retrieval throughout exams or shows.
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Integration with Different Word-Taking Strategies
Highlighters seamlessly combine with different note-taking strategies, reminiscent of outlining or mind-mapping. By combining highlighting with these methods, people can create a multi-layered and visually wealthy system for organizing and processing info. A enterprise scholar would possibly spotlight key takeaways from a case examine after which combine these highlighted factors right into a thoughts map summarizing the case. This integration of varied note-taking strategies creates a extra complete and efficient strategy to studying and knowledge administration. The highlighter, due to this fact, serves as a flexible complement to different note-taking methods, enriching the educational course of and selling deeper understanding.
Dr. Honn’s invention of the highlighter considerably enhanced note-taking practices. By enabling emphasis, enhancing group, facilitating environment friendly evaluation, and integrating seamlessly with different note-taking strategies, the highlighter turned an indispensable software for college students and professionals looking for to successfully handle and retain info. Its impression on note-taking underscores the broader significance of the highlighter as a software that essentially modified how people work together with and course of written info, contributing to improved studying outcomes and enhanced communication.
Continuously Requested Questions
This part addresses frequent inquiries relating to the invention and improvement of the highlighter.
Query 1: When was the highlighter invented?
The highlighter was invented within the late Nineteen Sixties, particularly attributed to Dr. Frank Honn’s work at Carter’s Ink Firm.
Query 2: Who invented the highlighter?
Dr. Frank Honn is credited with the invention of the highlighter whereas working at Carter’s Ink Firm.
Query 3: What firm was instrumental in bringing the highlighter to market?
Carter’s Ink Firm performed a pivotal position within the manufacturing, advertising and marketing, and distribution of the highlighter, making it commercially out there.
Query 4: What’s the key chemical part that makes a highlighter perform because it does?
Fluorescent ink, particularly formulated for translucency and vibrancy, is the important part distinguishing highlighters from different markers.
Query 5: Why is the felt tip vital to the highlighter’s design?
The felt tip permits for managed utility of the fluorescent ink, guaranteeing easy, constant highlighting with out extreme bleed-through.
Query 6: How has the highlighter impacted studying and finding out practices?
The highlighter facilitates energetic studying, improves info retention, and aids in visible group of textual content, considerably enhancing examine habits and studying comprehension.
Understanding the historic context, chemical properties, and sensible functions of the highlighter supplies a complete appreciation for this ubiquitous writing software.
Additional exploration of particular elements, together with the evolution of ink formulations and the impression on various studying kinds, can supply further insights into the highlighter’s lasting affect on how we work together with written info.
Efficient Highlighting Methods
Optimizing using highlighters can considerably improve studying comprehension, retention, and general productiveness. These methods supply sensible steerage for leveraging the highlighter’s capabilities successfully.
Tip 1: Learn First, Spotlight Second
Keep away from highlighting on the primary go. Studying the textual content totally earlier than highlighting permits for higher comprehension and identification of key ideas. Untimely highlighting can result in over-marking and diminished effectiveness.
Tip 2: Spotlight Purposefully
Develop a transparent function for highlighting. Set up particular standards for what warrants highlighting, reminiscent of key phrases, most important concepts, or supporting proof. An outlined function ensures centered highlighting and avoids pointless marking.
Tip 3: Make the most of Shade-Coding Strategically
Make use of completely different highlighter colours to categorize info. Assigning particular colours to completely different ideas or classes creates a visible system for organizing and retrieving info extra effectively. This aids in visible distinction and enhances recall.
Tip 4: Annotate and Summarize
Mix highlighting with annotations and summaries. Temporary notes within the margins or summaries on the finish of sections complement highlighted passages, offering further context and reinforcing understanding.
Tip 5: Much less is Extra
Keep away from extreme highlighting. Over-highlighting diminishes the visible impression and makes it tough to discern actually vital info. Deal with highlighting solely essentially the most crucial parts to maximise effectiveness.
Tip 6: Experiment and Adapt
Particular person preferences and studying kinds range. Experiment with completely different highlighting methods and adapt methods to find what works greatest for maximizing comprehension and retention. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy; private experimentation is essential.
Tip 7: Evaluate Highlighted Materials Usually
Common evaluation reinforces studying. Periodically revisiting highlighted passages strengthens reminiscence and ensures long-term retention of key info. This reinforces the neural pathways related to the highlighted materials.
By implementing these methods, people can maximize the advantages of highlighting, remodeling this straightforward software into a robust instrument for enhancing studying comprehension, enhancing info retention, and optimizing studying processes.
The evolution of the highlighter, from a easy marking software to a multifaceted studying assist, underscores its adaptability and enduring relevance in an more and more information-rich world. The next conclusion explores the continuing impression of this seemingly easy but profoundly influential invention.
The Enduring Legacy of the Highlighter
The exploration of the highlighter’s invention reveals a confluence of particular person ingenuity, company infrastructure, and historic context. Dr. Frank Honn’s improvement of fluorescent ink, coupled with Carter’s Ink Firm’s manufacturing and distribution capabilities, introduced this transformative software to market within the late Nineteen Sixties. This era’s technological developments and burgeoning academic panorama supplied fertile floor for the highlighter’s speedy adoption. From its preliminary conception, the highlighter’s impression on studying comprehension, note-taking practices, and knowledge processing has been profound. The seemingly easy act of highlighting textual content has grow to be integral to how people have interaction with and retain written info. The felt-tipped pen, a seemingly minor element, proved essential for the highlighter’s performance, enabling exact ink utility and managed highlighting.
The highlighter’s enduring presence in lecture rooms, workplaces, and houses underscores its significance as a software that continues to form how we work together with info. Additional exploration into the evolving functions of highlighting expertise and its impression on various studying kinds guarantees continued innovation on this seemingly easy but remarkably impactful area. The highlighter’s unassuming kind belies its profound affect on communication, studying, and the continuing quest for data.
