Mirror Writing

Have you ever seen an ambulance which had the word "AMBULANCE" written backward on the front of the vehicle? Why would they do that? It's written correctly on the sides and back! The answer is very simple. Because the word is written backwards, it appears normal when a driver looks at it through his or her rear-view mirror! You can try this yourself. Copy what is shown below onto a piece of paper, then hold the paper up to a mirror and read the word:Sometimes people have purposefully used mirror writing to try to disguise what they were writing, almost like a secret code. Leonardo DaVinci, the famous Italian inventor and artist, often wrote in this way. No one really knows why he did this.

Some people find it very easy to write backwards. Are you one of them? Try writing your name in mirror writing, then hold it up to a mirror to check. Don't feel bad if you can't. Only about 4% of the population can do this (that's just 4 out of every 100 people). If you are a good mirror writer, then chances are that at least one of your parents is, too, because this ability seems to be something you inherit, like your hair and eye color!

Even if you can't write backwards easily, you can produce mirror writing in three steps. First, write down what you want to say, then look at it in a mirror. Copy down exactly what you see in the mirror, and you'll have backwards writing!

Try reading the message below to see how good you are at decoding mirror writing!Do you agree?