European Renaissance: Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg was born in Germany around the year 1400. He is famous for inventing movable type, which revolutionized the bookmaking process in Europe. Gutenberg's invention played an important role in the European Renaissance by helping make information more accessible to more people.
Gutenberg's most famous work is his printing of the Bible. Completed in 1455, it looks rather primitive by today's standards. There are no paragraph breaks, the entire text is presented with 42 lines per page. An online copy of the Gutenberg bible is available at the British Library website, found here.
Gutenberg's process of mass producing books allowed for information to spread to more people than ever before. Aldus Manutius used the technology to print major Greek and Latin texts. The scientific community used the printing press to more easily share ideas and theories. It was a major factor in the Renaissance because it allowed for more people to have access to more information than ever before.
The emergence of the internet was another major breakthrough that allowed for people to have access to a great amount of information. Similar to how Gutenberg's printing press fueled the European Renaissance, the Internet has fueled the information Renaissance. People all over the world have access to an almost unlimited amount of information, most of which is free. This information has allowed for more people to learn more things than ever before.