European Renaissance (part 1)
The Renaissance in Europe had an effect and still has an effect on society. Many people are now interested in politics, and that interest came from the Renaissance. Also, people became interested in the world outside of thier towns. That fact has increased exponentially, because today, we need to know everything about the world around us in order to function properly in this global society.
Many people became explorers and mapmakers. They traveled, were able to document their surroundings, and bring that information back to their home towns.
The printing press was probaly the most important advance in technology. Europeans were the first to use movable type to print a book. These could then be arranged to form words and sentences. Johan Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, is given credit for the first book printed, a copy of the Bible.
By the 1500's printing presses where wide spread throughout Europe. The printing press had many effects on the world. First of all, it made books much easier to come by. Common people could afford them. Literacy became more widespread, compared to the Middle Ages where usually monks and church officials, and the rich were the only ones able to read. Second, since many more people were able to read, they wanted to read subjects other than religious or scientific works, and because of that need, books on other subjects were published. Also many books were published in languages other than Latin, such as English, Spanish, French, and Italian. A third effect was that scholars had better access to other works. this information sharing became a big reason for the improvement of society.