1. Science and the English Language
THREE MAJOR POINTS NEED TO BE EMPHASIZED:
1)THE INVENTION OF PRINT WAS NOT AN INVENTION IN THE SENSE OF THE DISCOVERY OF SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW;
2)COMMUNICATION HAD A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS OF 16° AND 17° CENTURY;
3)COMMUNICATION IN SCIENCE DEVELOPED WITHIN A COMMERCIAL FRAME

2. Science and the English Language
Eisenstein sees the beginning of modernity not in a particular date (such as Colombo’s “discovery” of America, or the rebellion of Luther against the Roman Church) but in what she calls “a definite communication shift” produced by the invention of printing. Thus not a single event or a single personality, but a technological improvement in communication.

3. Science and the English Language
THE PRESS WAS ALREADY IN USE IN OTHER FIELDS SUCH AS AGRICOLTURE.
AND BOOKS WERE ALREADY PRINTED BEFORE GUTENBERG.
ON THE OTHER HAND, BOOKS WRITTEN BY HAND DID NOT DISAPPEAR BEFORE THE 18° CENTURY.

4. Science and the English Language
Gutenberg made printing a relatively easy and cheap technology to use.
EASY:implies that people not necessarily with a high cultural background could take part in the production of books;
CHEAP:indicates that from the very beginning printing was linked to market – was a business aimed at making money and not just carried out for the love of culture or of books.

5. Science and the English Language
BEFORE AND AFTER.
BEFORE: books were scarce, delicate, expensive and unreliable.
AFTER:identical books are printed by the hundreds, they cost less and less and are thus accessible to a larger portion of society.

6. Science and the English Language
WAS THE INVENTION OF PRINTING CONSERVATIVE O REVOLUTIONARY?
OF COURSE IT WAS BOTH AT ONCE. ON ONE HAND IT HELPED CENTRAL POWER TO STRENGHTEN ITS CONTROL OVER THE PEOPLE. ON THE OTHER HAND IT MADE INFORMATION AVAILABLE.

7. Science and the English Language
A NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MASTERS AND DISCIPLES:
INFORMATION VERSUS AUTHORITY

8. Science and the English Language
Three figures:
PRINTER
SCHOLAR
SCIENTIST

9. Science and the English Language

10. Science and the English Language