The History of Knotting

Knotting has existed for centuries.  Stone blades would be tied to wooden handles with knots to form axes in prehistoric times.  Rope ladders were made with knots.  Some knots were meant to be functional, others to beautify.  Knots existed in many different cultures.  Here are a few interesting excerpts about the history of knotting, which I found on the internet.

In 1867 after observing Scottish physicist Peter Tait's experiments involving smoke rings, Thomson came to the idea that atoms were knots of swirling vortices in the æther. Chemical elements would thus correspond to knots and links. Tait's experiments were inspired by a paper of Helmholtz's on vortex-rings in incompressible fluids. Thomson and Tait believed that an understanding and classification of all possible knots would explain why atoms absorb and emit light at only the discrete wavelengths that they do. For example, Thomson thought that sodium could be the Hopf link due to its two lines of spectra. (Sossinsky 2002, p. 3–10)  The History of Knot Theory

A resent study has found that man is not the only specie to tie knots, that gorillas use them to hold creepers and saplings down in their nests. In one nest two dozen knots were counted, most were grannies but some were square knots. There is a bird that ties knots to fasten their nest. There are still primitive races who fasten their huts, traps and even clothing with knots. KnotPro