The Famous Gutenberg Essay, Research Paper
Johannes Gutenberg was born between 1394 and 1399 the exact date is unsure. He was born in Mainz and trained as a goldsmith there. His family later settled in Strasbourg, France. During the Renaissance he invented the printing press, which allowed the peasants to have access to books. For the first time books were being mechanically made through the use of ink and molds instead of handwritten. Gutenberg s first printed book was the Bible. During the Renaissance the common people were not able to read and if they were literate books were reserved for the upper class. The Bible was one of the most important books of the time and it was not accessible to the lower class. Gutenberg Bible was completed around 1450 and 1456 and people of all social status had the opportunity to read it and interpreted on their own. The creation of the printing press was a great scientific achievement, which not only made history but it also changed the way that is presented. Gutenberg is a really important individual in history. Without his accomplishment on the printing press, books would not be as accessible to the common people.
His partner Johann Fust, who assisted him economically in the making of the printing press, was suing Gutenberg because he wanted the money that the printing press had made. This conflict was Gutenberg s greatest disappointment. After both of them worked in the making of such an important tool, money became a conflict. Gutenberg surrendered the court case and gave Fust all his earnings from the printing press. Gutenberg provided society with a great advancement; however, the people that worked with him to achieve this were more interested in the monetary benefits that they would obtain form this than its actual use. Therefore, if Gutenberg would have gone through the entire process all over again he might of chosen his partners by making sue that their interests were focused on scientific advancement and not economic compensation. Gutenberg was greatly influenced by God. People during the Renaissance focused on serving God and Gutenberg proved that he wanted to serve God by enabling the common people to read and enjoy what God provided to them in the Bible. The turning point in Gutenberg s life was his printing of the Bible. By printing the Bible he became a pioneer not only in the use of mechanical ways for writing but also in allowing the least fortunate to have a taste of the joy that is reading.
All the actions made by Gutenberg have benefited the world and it s history. The 20th Century is the one that obtained the most benefits from the printing press, since all the major technological advances are happening now and improvements are increasing rapidly. Without the printing press most of the major discoveries such as the genetic material, DNA, as well as our book of law, The Constitution, would have not been able to be transferred to the many places that they have been transferred. If Gutenberg had not been born our educational system would be close to non-existent in the poor communities, and the major scientific achievements would have taken much longer to occur.