History of printing and press
(Tabinda Hussain, Karachi)
Numerous Renaissance inventions exist: Telescope, Compass, Printing press, etc. But the most important technological advance of all was the printing development, with the moving metal type in Germany around the mid-15th century. The printing press was invented in 1436 by a German called "Johannes Gutenberg ". Printing press had a significant influence on the production of literature, culture, reformation, and education.
Before the advent of printing press, it was important to produce several copies of a manuscript by hand. It took months or years to hand print handwritten books. This meant books were really costly. Printing press allowed more copies to be produced in a few weeks than historically could have been produced manually in a lifetime. With the printing press they could do thousand copies of books, which made books cheaper.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, some six million books were published by the European presses by 1500.
This reflects through the church. The Bible was the very first mass-produced book. There were two hundred copies of the Gutenberg Bible printed; this detail is seen on the website
People were willing to afford the Bible, and no longer go to churches. This refers to new religions and to the Reformation. People at their homes knew they should pray and confess. People establish rules on when, where, and how to pray and confess. Hundreds of new faiths began to form. Some of them thought the church was wrong and that is why Reformation took place.
In the Middle Ages church leaders were the only educated people in Europe. Yet anybody could afford to buy and get more educated with the advent of printing presses. Education in the Renaissance was really important, as it enabled the mind of people to think. The power of the books and the educated people were greater than the church. People were reading and sharing their knowledge everywhere, as soon as they could.
In conclusion, the revolution may never have occurred without the evolution of the printing press. Without inexpensive printing to make books available to a major part of society, in the mid-1500's the son of John Shakespeare, a minor government official in rural England, so never was it impaired to write what is now known as any of the best plays in history. Which civilization gained from the invention of Gutenberg is incalculable.