The Mystery of Silk and the World’s First Intellectual Property Theft

Silk was once such a prized commodity that an entire trading network spanning 4,000 miles to connect Europe, the Middle East and North Africa with China was named after it. In fact, Europeans coveted silk before they were clearly aware of China’s existence.

Classic Chinese silk arises from caterpillars which feast on mulberry leaves then spew liquid silk from glands in their head to form a cocoon, a miraculously simple process running contrary to ancient Roman and Persian beliefs surmising t...