Printed materials are often taken for granted. Without the printing press, we would have no books, newspapers, and magazines. The printing press revolutionized the way that information is shared, recorded, and how quickly information can be shared. The printing press is one of the greatest inventions of all time; it changed how we have evolved over time and it has affected various cultures in many ways. Elizabeth Eisenstein said it best when she stated, “this sort of spectacular innovation, while deserving close study, should not divert attention from much less conspicuous, more ubiquitous changes.” Our grammar changed, our language changed, and our lives changed. We even possess a highly guarded liberty, the freedom of the press. In the late 1430’s, Johann Gutenberg revolutionized the process of mass printing. Gutenberg took an already established technology, combined elements of various printing techniques, and improved upon them. Gutenberg took the Chinese technique of block printing, rag paper, oil based inks, a screw press that was typically used to produce wine and olive oil, and made movable type letters of metal to create his printing press. The screw press was specially designed to achieve an effective and even transfer of the image to paper or even …show more content…
The printing press played a major role in the Protestant Reformation. Because of the printing press, the spread of information was much faster and became available to a much larger audience. Martin Luther was able to utilize the printing press to his benefit by producing pamphlets and distributing them across Europe. In comparison, Martin Luther was printing items much faster and in greater volume than the Catholic Church. Luther printed 20 percent of all pamphlets printed between 1517 and