Academic Reading
The printing revolution
ABefore printing, every book had to be copied out by hand, a slow and costly task that kept books rare and knowledge in the hands of a few. In the fifteenth century, a German craftsman named Johannes Gutenberg developed a printing press that used movable metal type.
BWith Gutenberg's press, identical copies of a page could be produced quickly and cheaply. Books became far more affordable, literacy spread, and ideas travelled faster than ever before. Many historians regard the printing press as one of the most important inventions in human history.