Question

Explain how the printing press altered Renaissance society. Your answer should be at least 150 words.

Answer 1

Gutenberg’s genius invention was to create a set of letters that could be pressed into “matrix” material, which was then filled with a lead alloy to make type. You got one of each letter in a font of type. If you needed 100 of the letter E, you molded what you needed. If a letter was starting to wear out, you threw it back in the pot and made a new one. Gutenberg's printing press spread literature to the masses for the first time in an efficient, durable way, shoving Europe headlong into the original information age.  Being able to print in quantity meant more people could gain access to learning, and more people could create new ideas.