Printing Press
Aldis Isaac
The Background
Printing is the act of impressing or stamping one surface with another surface, which has been incised or cut in relief and then linked. It goes back at least to 175 A.D. when it was practiced by the Chinese who invented paper some 75 years earlier.[1] The 24 letter alphabet was developed by the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians who were trying to devise a way to put letters together, so that the quantity of text could be used as reading matter. The Chinese, however, only used printing as a way to record decrees.
Turning Point
In Holland the invention of modern printing from type was being produced by the well-known Johann Gutenberg, who began experimenting with modern printing around 1440 A.D. It was noted that Gutenberg needed ink that was used by painters made from a pigment ground in linseed-oil varnish. However, the process would not be completed without the use of paper made of cotton cloth which was invented years ago in Europe. Gutenberg became a pioneer in mass production but he ran into different problems that forced him to make decisions in order to arrive at a solution. One of the major problems that he faced was that he had to keep one printing sub-process in step with another.
To solve the problem, Gutenberg had two choices whether to use the beam press or the downward-acting screw. Either mechanism could have been chosen as the basis of the printing press, but it was apparent that Gutenberg rejected the beam press in favor of the downward-acting screw[2]. The screw was introduced to replace the weights to screw down the free end of the lever. When this problem was solved, Gutenberg found it easier to develop a machine that would print a mass production of documents at the same time. The use of the newly cast pieces of movable metal type, the new linseed-oil ink that was used to stick to the metal type and the press that would push the paper onto to the inked type, was the combination Gutenberg used to print words on paper.
Around 1455 A.D., Gutenberg developed the Gutenberg Bible[3] which sold over 5,000 copies and the era of the revolutionary printing press was now established. However, Gutenberg ran into financial struggles when his printing press was repossessed by Johann Fust, the man who was financially supporting his efforts. However, the achievement of the invention of the printing press, was already far reaching and many persons were now effective with its creativity to process reading material. Printing documents was an immense way of relaying information to a vast amount of people.
Effect
Before the printing press was invented, most people did not bother to read books because there was no access to books or any reading materials. The printing press made it very accessible for people to know more information about what was going on in the world that they lived in. Books have provided a lot of knowledge to people around the globe which has led to a more educated population. We have learnt that education is the key to all things, and therefore the printing press has allowed the literacy rate of each country to be more advanced.
Finally, newspapers are one of the fastest sources of news that are not costly and can reach a large amount of people. The printing press made every published article, magazine and journal possible to provide information to people. Magazines have become a popular source of information especially in fashion and the popular culture. A wealth of knowledge and wisdom has been accelerated across the world, just by the outstanding invention of the printing press.
[1] James Moran. “Printing Press: History and Development from the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times”.1973. Pg. 17.
[2] Moran, “Printing Press, 19.
[3] Thomas Frey. The Future of Libraries:Beginning the Great Transformation. 2006, 1.
Bibliography
Clanchy, Michael T. Looking Back from the Invention of Printing. The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, vol. 39, No. 3. 1982. 168-183.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, United Kingdom. 1979.
Frey, Thomas. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation. The DaVinci Institute. Colorado. 2006. 1-7.
Hoe, Robert. A Short History of The Printing Press and Improvements in Printing Machinery from the Time of Gutenberg up to the Present Day. Hoe Printing Press. New York. 1902. 9-95.
Moran, James. Printing Press: History and Development from the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times. University of California Press. Los Angeles, California. 1973. 17-38.
Aldis Isaac
The Background
Printing is the act of impressing or stamping one surface with another surface, which has been incised or cut in relief and then linked. It goes back at least to 175 A.D. when it was practiced by the Chinese who invented paper some 75 years earlier.[1] The 24 letter alphabet was developed by the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians who were trying to devise a way to put letters together, so that the quantity of text could be used as reading matter. The Chinese, however, only used printing as a way to record decrees.
Turning Point
In Holland the invention of modern printing from type was being produced by the well-known Johann Gutenberg, who began experimenting with modern printing around 1440 A.D. It was noted that Gutenberg needed ink that was used by painters made from a pigment ground in linseed-oil varnish. However, the process would not be completed without the use of paper made of cotton cloth which was invented years ago in Europe. Gutenberg became a pioneer in mass production but he ran into different problems that forced him to make decisions in order to arrive at a solution. One of the major problems that he faced was that he had to keep one printing sub-process in step with another.
To solve the problem, Gutenberg had two choices whether to use the beam press or the downward-acting screw. Either mechanism could have been chosen as the basis of the printing press, but it was apparent that Gutenberg rejected the beam press in favor of the downward-acting screw[2]. The screw was introduced to replace the weights to screw down the free end of the lever. When this problem was solved, Gutenberg found it easier to develop a machine that would print a mass production of documents at the same time. The use of the newly cast pieces of movable metal type, the new linseed-oil ink that was used to stick to the metal type and the press that would push the paper onto to the inked type, was the combination Gutenberg used to print words on paper.
Around 1455 A.D., Gutenberg developed the Gutenberg Bible[3] which sold over 5,000 copies and the era of the revolutionary printing press was now established. However, Gutenberg ran into financial struggles when his printing press was repossessed by Johann Fust, the man who was financially supporting his efforts. However, the achievement of the invention of the printing press, was already far reaching and many persons were now effective with its creativity to process reading material. Printing documents was an immense way of relaying information to a vast amount of people.
Effect
Before the printing press was invented, most people did not bother to read books because there was no access to books or any reading materials. The printing press made it very accessible for people to know more information about what was going on in the world that they lived in. Books have provided a lot of knowledge to people around the globe which has led to a more educated population. We have learnt that education is the key to all things, and therefore the printing press has allowed the literacy rate of each country to be more advanced.
Finally, newspapers are one of the fastest sources of news that are not costly and can reach a large amount of people. The printing press made every published article, magazine and journal possible to provide information to people. Magazines have become a popular source of information especially in fashion and the popular culture. A wealth of knowledge and wisdom has been accelerated across the world, just by the outstanding invention of the printing press.
[1] James Moran. “Printing Press: History and Development from the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times”.1973. Pg. 17.
[2] Moran, “Printing Press, 19.
[3] Thomas Frey. The Future of Libraries:Beginning the Great Transformation. 2006, 1.
Bibliography
Clanchy, Michael T. Looking Back from the Invention of Printing. The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, vol. 39, No. 3. 1982. 168-183.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, United Kingdom. 1979.
Frey, Thomas. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation. The DaVinci Institute. Colorado. 2006. 1-7.
Hoe, Robert. A Short History of The Printing Press and Improvements in Printing Machinery from the Time of Gutenberg up to the Present Day. Hoe Printing Press. New York. 1902. 9-95.
Moran, James. Printing Press: History and Development from the Fifteenth Century to Modern Times. University of California Press. Los Angeles, California. 1973. 17-38.