Global Literacy: The Evolution Of The Printing Press

Writing has existed since before the year 0. Its evolution to what it has become today was made possible by the invention of the printing press, which made books easier and cheaper to produce, stimulating the spread of knowledge and writing. This first mechanical machine that helped expand access to learning and information has led to the establishment of the modern-day Internet. Although the Internet has improved upon the beneficial qualities of the primitive printing press remarkably, the printing press was much more revolutionary than the Internet. It caused literacy rates to increase drastically and made many world-changing revolutions possible as well. On the other hand, the Internet provides access to everything the printing press offers,
Before the perfection of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440, books were copied by hand- taking extreme amounts of time as well as effort. This made books highly expensive and only affordable by the clergy. As a result, education was scarce and only a small percentage of people in the world were literate (“Renaissance- Printing and Thinking”). When Gutenberg’s printing press came into use however, books could be printed more quickly and efficiently, and they therefore became much cheaper. Common people could then afford books, which led to a higher literacy rate (“The State of Publishing: Literacy Rates”). Not only were books made more available, but the language they were written in also allowed more people to read them. Before the printing press, most books were written and copied in Latin, but as books began to be printed, middle classes demanded works in the language of the nation, as well as in their own languages. This made books readable by anyone who was, or became, literate (Shilling, pars. 3-4).
The drastic increase in literacy rates had dramatic impacts as well, especially in Europe, home to some of the most advanced civilizations in the early modern period of world history. Before, book copying was controlled by the Church, which could control or monitor what was being written and published. Because the printing press allowed information to spread quickly and accurately, more people
This is exactly what happened when Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses, which was an outlined list of the Church’s corruptions and which challenged the legitimacy of their teachings. With the help of the printing press, Luther’s ideas were quickly brought to light. Although not many people could read at the time, the printing press played a significant role in the sparking of the Protestant Reformation as it allowed thousands of copies of Luther’s pamphlets and sermons of complaints about the Church to circulate among the people, out of the Church’s control (“Martin Luther”). Later, Luther translated the Bible from Latin to German, which allowed more people to read it and interpret it for themselves, rather than blindly following what the Church taught them about God and the afterlife. This caused dozens of new faiths to rise, and each of these faiths of “protest” offered a new choice against the Church (“Europe Reopens Its Eyes”). Without the help of the printing press, Luther’s original copy of the 95 Theses most likely would have been taken down from the door of the Church and his ideas be put out quickly without many people ever finding out about them. Furthermore, the invention of the printing press also played a role in launching the Scientific Revolution. Through the easy and efficient book production that the printing press allowed, scientists studying the same topics in different parts of Europe