Chapter 5 was an informative chapter that discussed how Europeans adapted printing. The invention of printing allowed knowledge to spread rapidly and the levels of literacy increased greatly because of it. The first form of propaganda was seen in ars moriendi where it urges people to put aside the desire to provide for one's family and will one's estate to the church. Apparently the Chinese didn't adapt to typographical printing immediately because alignment between characters wasn't critical and it was nearly impossible to sort through all of their characters. They therefore kept to block printing instead.
I am really surprised to read that the value of a book during the early 1400's cost the same as a farm or vineyard. I understood that books were expensive because of the labor and material, but more than a vineyard!!
I am also impressed and depressed with Johann Gutenburg's story. He accomplished something so great and worked so hard, but basically got stabbed in the back with the person who was borrowing him money. The backstabber turned out to be one of the biggest and most important printing firm in the world. I am curious to see if they are they still in business to this day.
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