Published by Jaico Publishing House
A-2 Jash Chambers, 7-A Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road
Fort, Mumbai - 400 001
www.jaicobooks.com
John Hudson Tiner
Published in arrangement with
New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.
P.O. Box 726, Green Forest
Arkansas 72638
All rights reserved.
To be sold only in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
CHAMPIONS OF INVENTION
ISBN 978-81-8495-848-5
First Jaico Impression: 2016
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Page design and layout: Inosoft Systems, Delhi
W hat is the most important invention of all time? Experts agree that the printing press had the greatest impact on the world. It was invented by John Gutenberg. He was born in Germany about the year 1400. We know little about his early days. He earned a living at various times as a goldsmith and as a stonecutter.
He grew up at a time when people made books by carefully copying them by hand. All books were copied with great care. Those who copied the Bible took special precautions to guard against errors. They proofread a finished page carefully. As an added check, they counted every letter on the page. Each page had to have the same number of letters as the same page in the original document. A person working alone needed about seven years to copy the complete Bible.
People also copied writing by carving a page on a block of wood and printing from it. They cared these wooden blocks exactly like the page, but with writings and drawings reversed. A few hundred sheets could be printed from one block. Ink would then soften the wood and cause blurred, messy pages.
Books were few in number and far too expensive for most people. Only governments, churches, and universities could have large libraries. The owner of a Bible or a dozen other books could be considered a rich person.
Churches would put an open Bible on display. They would turn the page once a week so people could read it.
In 1436, Gutenberg studied how to make mechanical copies of books. He had the idea of using movable type for printing. Each letter would be on the end of a separate bar. A printer could assemble individual letters as a block of type for the page of a book. He could print the page time and again. Then the printer could rearrange the letters to make the next page. A printer could make several hundred identical copies of a book.
Gutenberg worked for years to perfect the process. The metal for the type gave him trouble. Lead flattened under pressure. Iron cracked. Set type inked unevenly. The paper blurred. Unsuccessful experiments took all of his money.
Gutenberg felt certain his idea would work. He needed money desperately. In 1450, he formed a partnership with a business associate. This time he started from the beginning. He realized that printing was a process that involved several steps. A single invention alone would not ensure success. He began fresh and worked on each part until he had it rightthe type, printing press, paper, and ink all had to work together.
He began with moveable type. The tiny metal letters had to all be the same size so he could interchange them with one another. They had to lock together evenly as a flat surface. They had to stand up to repeated impressions. He made the type from copper and this time the letters worked perfectly.
The press would push the paper evenly against the block of type. His first machine used parts from a press that squeezed juice from grapes. Instead of flattening grapes, a handle turned a screw to flatten the paper firmly against the block of type. It gave an even impression across the entire sheet of paper.
He experimented with ink. It had to stick to the metal type and then transfer to paper. He developed a new oil-based ink. It was entirely different in chemical composition from ink for wood blocks. He mixed the ink himself.
He even tested paper. Was it the best surface for printing?
The Egyptians had written on papyrus, a rough surface made from reeds. The Chinese had made a paper from bamboo. They also wrote on silk. Europeans wrote important documents on parchment made from the skins of sheep or calves.
Paper had come in use as a writing surface in Europe only a couple of hundred years before Gutenbergs time. Both parchment and paper had a smooth surface that would accept ink. For expensive books, he would use parchment. For less expensive books he would use paper so that ordinary people could own books. Paper was the only part of the printing process that he didnt invent himself. Even so, he sought out and ordered the best paper he could find.
Gutenberg combined his many different inventions and improvements. He now had a method to mass-produce books, all with identical pages.
In 1454, one of the greatest events of world history occurred. Gutenberg began to print the first book made by movable type. Until then, he had experimented with smaller manuscripts such as single sheets, calendars, and religious tracts. He put six presses in operation. He set type for his most monumental task: printing the entire Bible.
John Gutenberg wanted the printed Bibles to be as beautiful as any hand copied one. He chose attractive type design and took pains to make each page perfect. His excellent workmanship paid off. Gutenbergs Bible was not only the first book ever printed, but many people consider it the most beautiful book as well. Seldom does a new invention begin at its greatest point. His achievement has never been matched.
Each Bible had 1,282 pages, 42 lines on a page, divided into two columns. He printed 300 copies of each page and bound them together to make 300 identical Bibles. Of the 300 original books, only 45 complete copies are still in existence today. Each is priceless. Today, loose sheets from incomplete Bibles sell for thousands of dollars. At the time, however, the books Gutenberg printed were less expensive than those made any other way.
Until the invention of the printing press, Bibles were rare and difficult to find. Martin Luther, the German religious leader, did not see a complete Bible until he was an adult. Soon printers published Bibles on paper in everyday languages such as German, English, and French. The price dropped so low even ordinary people could own a Bible. For the first time, common people had a Bible they could own and read for themselves. Printing swept Europe. It became a new and successful profession. Within 50 years more than nine million copies of books had been printed.
