Guttenberg

Send us Fan MailI sincerely hope that you are enjoying the episodes that make up the Hall of Imagination. A wax museum is a wonderful metaphor. During the day, the figures are silent exhibits. At night, they become people again. That gives me tremendous freedom to let them explain themselves, argue, laugh, and even admit uncertainty—all while hopefully making it clear to my audience that they're listening to a dramatization grounded in history.After I had finished talking with the inventor of paper in the previous episode, I came face-to-face with a wax figure of a man who is often called the inventor of printing–JOHANN GUTENBERG–not surprisingly, my first remark was you must be the inventor of printing–I have spoken with an individual who is often said to be the inventor of paper– But, from what I understand you are the inventor of the movable press.Guttenberg: That is only partially true. One must note that I developed the first method of using movable type and the printing press in such a way that a great deal of written material could be printed with speed and accuracy. Compare this to the scribe or monk– However well intentioned–could not transcribe written communication at the speed of a machine– And that machine was the printing press–a machine that used movable type. And although there was a form of movable type used in China and Korea, it never came into general use until relatively recent times.Support the showThank you for experiencing Celebrate Creativity.