Invention Of The Printing Press example essay topic

JOHANN GUTENBURG AND THE PRINTING PRESS Long ago there was a man named Johann Gutenberg. He was a very intelligent man. He created one of the greatest inventions in history. He created the printing press. You may ask yourself, what is the printing press? I will soon explain.

Johann Gutenberg was born in 1399 named Genefliesch zur Laden. He changed his name to Gutenburg after the name of his wealthy father's house. Gutenberg died in 1468 in Mainz, Germany where he was born. In the footsteps of his father, he first trained as a goldsmith in Strasburg, Germany and joined the goldsmith's guild in 1434.

He moved back to Mainz and befriended Johann Fust who became his partner and provided him with money to create the printing press. The most well known publication was the Gutenberg Bible, which showed the perfection of his invention. Later Fust sued Gutenberg for possession of the Gutenberg Bible. No other information was ever recovered from this incidence but it is assumed that Johann Gutenberg got his hands on the printing press. In Gutenberg's time, not everyone was educated. There was not enough time to hand-write hundreds or even thousands of books.

So, instead of learning, people worked. In 1448, Johann Gutenberg made it possible for many people to learn. The printing press was a machine that could write many books with ink. Around this time there was a will to learn but most people didn't have the money for the books.

With the invention of the printing press many books can be produced at a time many more people could afford to learn. At that time the church had controlled all of the literature and books. This gave the church the power when it came to learning, education, and teaching. When Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press, the church lost control of some of it's power. The printing press was made up of plain paper, ink, blocks, and the press itself. The blocks were very important in his invention.

The blocks were movable objects that made it possible for printing to be carried out at a faster pace. The paper would be placed on a tray and would take the letters and coat them with ink. The letters would hit the paper and mark it with the text. Although many people feel that the first book Johann Gutenberg printed was the bible some believe that this is not true.

There has shown to be a 28 page Latin book on making speeches that was first printed on the printing press. The little book was printed in 1450. The bible came after that. Some people today believed that Johann Gutenberg was not the first to create the printing press. One man believed that he was the first to create it. His name was Janszoon Coster of Haarlem, a Dutchman.

He was not the only man to say that he created the printing press. A Chinese inventor also said the same thing. They both think that they were the true inventors of the printing press. One true fact is that he did not fully create the idea. The idea was first created in Korea 400 years before, but Johann Gutenberg was the first to widely spread the idea and perfect it.

Johann Gutenberg was a genius inventor. He never received the fame and fortune he had wished for. Maybe it was because he was a bad business-man but he still was a great thinker. He goes down in history for inventing one of the greatest things known to mankind, the printing press..