2.  Born in 1398 in Germany  Invented the Printing Press in 1439  Was never financially successful  Did not get credit until 1504

3.  How might the printing press have changed society?

4.  The printing press helped to spread Catholicism, but also facilitated great opposition to the Church and spread new ideas about religion.  The Church became weakened by the printing of dissenting views,such as those from Martin Luther.  Because people were able to own their own copy of the Bible, they did not have to turn to priests to interpret it.

5.  The printing press allowed for the acquisition of new and radical ideas, as well as ushered in the Scientific Revolution.  One could privately acquire any information they sought from books rather than publicly interacting with those deemed to be radicals.  This privacy allowed easier transmission of different and newinformation.  It also allowed for a cumulative advance of knowledge, one in which previous knowledge could be questioned and doubted.

6.  The printing press becomes a way of easily recording and transferring information.  Records become more likely to be permanently saved.  Ideas spread easier and quicker.  Scientists are able to use extensive research records, allowing science to expand at a significantly faster rate.

7.  The printing press had a huge effect on standardizing language in Europe.  Before the printing press, books were more commonly written in the classical languages, but afterwards, there was more emphasis on the vernacular languages.  When print became common, the dialect and spelling conventions that made their way into print became the standard.

8.  Before the printing press only the upper class could afford access to knowledge in the form of hand-written books and tutors.  Lower class was uneducated peasants.  As books become more available and cheaper, lower class becomes more educated -> Leads to a bigger middle class (people can now change social class through education)