The printing press, a revolutionary invention that made knowledge accessible to everyone.Concept Paper 11

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The printing press, a revolutionary invention that made knowledge accessible to everyone. Printing press is a mechanical process for reproducing texts, drawings, images or figures on paper, cloth or... other materials. Although the invention of printing is commonly associated with Europe, during the 15th century, the history of printing began much earlier. About 700 years before printing was produced in Europe, monks in China used to put ink on paper by a method known as xylography (woodcut), in which ink-coated wood blocks were pressed onto sheets of paper. In other words, phrases and images were carved into wooden blocks, inked, and then the paper was pressed onto the blocks. Each block consisted of a full page of text, figure or illustrations. This process, which allowed printing using a wooden board, was very similar to the printing press, which it would later be developed in Europe. However, a disadvantage of this method, used in China, was that the wood was very worn and was not a viable alternative for making many copies. The world’s oldest complete and dated printed book was found in China during the first millennium AD. It was The Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China from around 868 A.D. during the Tang Dinasty. (Crimmins 2019). This book was created with the method mentioned before. Many years later, in Europe, inspired by this system in China, Johannes Gutenberg, from Germany, invented the so-called "movable types", which were molds of the letters of the alphabet that were initially made of wood and then of lead. Then, this inventor devised a strategy to put his "movable types" into motion. To achieve this end, he adapted the presses used to squeeze the grape juice to the printing press. Gutenberg's legacy spread throughout Europe, becoming a very significant technology advance in history. (Pollard 2001). His invention was the forerunner of modern printers that are now equipped with technology; an indispensable feature in the 21st century. The irruption of the printing press in the Middle Ages produced a cultural, social, and scientific revolution: texts and books could be copied with a speed never seen before and its impact was unimaginable. Modern history would be inconceivable without this invention as its use completely changed western culture and later world history. Until 1453, knowledge was transmitted through manuscripts made by monks, and those who wanted to read and knew how to do so had to request a handwritten copy of the text. Moreover, it was a rather complex job that could take at least ten years, depending on the thickness of the document. With the invention of the printing press, the copying process of books and texts was accelerated and in a short time, the Writings reached an enormous audience thanks to the dissemination of knowledge and, economically important, by the lowering of production costs. [Show More]

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