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Centuries Collide

Cody Crouch: Johannes Gutenberg - Weapon Of Mass Distribution | Centuries Collide

January 30, 2025 | S1:E11

Cody Crouch: Johannes Gutenberg - Weapon Of Mass Distribution | Centuries Collide
After the invention of the printing press in the 15th century - the world could never be the same. Gutenberg single-handedly helped take the world into the modern era, but at the same time the world's most dangerous resource could now spread at unprecedented speed. In this episode, learn all about the life of Gutenberg and the development of his world-changing invention. For better or worse!
#Bible #WorldHistory #Religion #History #BibleHistory #Government #Politics #inActive #CodyCrouch #Documentary

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Centuries Collide | Cody Crouch: Johannes Gutenberg - Weapon Of Mass Distribution | Centuries Collide | January 30, 2025
  • - i am cody crouch.
  • 00:00:01.758 --> 00:00:02.959
  • I am traveling the globe uncovering the origins of the
  • 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:05.728
  • Stuff we use every day.
  • 00:00:05.728 --> 00:00:07.263
  • On centuries collide we are re-creating some of history's
  • 00:00:07.263 --> 00:00:10.166
  • Greatest moments exactly how they happened.
  • 00:00:10.166 --> 00:00:12.435
  • Well almost exactly.
  • 00:00:12.435 --> 00:00:15.538
  • The gutenberg press.
  • 00:00:15.538 --> 00:00:18.641
  • This is history like you've never seen it before.
  • 00:00:18.641 --> 00:00:25.982
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:00:25.982 --> 00:00:30.253
  • - what if i told you that there was an invention in the
  • 00:00:30.253 --> 00:00:32.489
  • 1400s that has been responsible for more deaths
  • 00:00:32.489 --> 00:00:36.159
  • Than both world wars combined?
  • 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:38.094
  • This invention has torn nations apart, caused
  • 00:00:38.094 --> 00:00:42.031
  • Assassination and genocide and imprisonment of the innocent
  • 00:00:42.031 --> 00:00:45.702
  • And guilty.
  • 00:00:45.702 --> 00:00:46.903
  • It has built and toppled the world's greatest empires.
  • 00:00:46.903 --> 00:00:49.806
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:00:49.806 --> 00:00:57.313
  • But at the same time, this invention has single handedly
  • 00:00:57.313 --> 00:00:59.749
  • Given masses access to truth, it has preserved and spread
  • 00:00:59.749 --> 00:01:03.720
  • Ideas that cost scientific reform and stopped and started
  • 00:01:03.720 --> 00:01:08.024
  • Revolutions.
  • 00:01:08.024 --> 00:01:11.628
  • In the right hands this invention can change the
  • 00:01:11.628 --> 00:01:16.566
  • World.
  • 00:01:16.566 --> 00:01:17.433
  • In the wrong hands, it's a weapon.
  • 00:01:17.433 --> 00:01:19.702
  • But this weapon does not fire bullets, its potential is
  • 00:01:19.702 --> 00:01:23.673
  • Unlimited for both good and evil.
  • 00:01:23.673 --> 00:01:26.709
  • If the most dangerous thing in history has been information,
  • 00:01:26.709 --> 00:01:31.681
  • Then the greatest weapon ever created was the printing
  • 00:01:31.681 --> 00:01:35.618
  • Press.
  • 00:01:35.618 --> 00:01:36.619
  • Buckle up, it's time for centuries collide.
  • 00:01:36.619 --> 00:01:39.489
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:01:39.489 --> 00:01:57.173
  • - the printing press, it's arguably the greatest
  • 00:01:57.173 --> 00:02:01.778
  • Invention of all time, and it's shaped every generation
  • 00:02:01.778 --> 00:02:05.615
  • Since its conception responsible for the tearing
  • 00:02:05.615 --> 00:02:08.284
  • Down of tyranny, the spread of scientific ideas and really
  • 00:02:08.284 --> 00:02:11.988
  • Without it, we would not have our modern world.
  • 00:02:11.988 --> 00:02:15.658
  • The ability to easily spread an idea through printed words
  • 00:02:15.658 --> 00:02:18.595
  • Has changed the world more than any invention in human
  • 00:02:18.595 --> 00:02:22.031
  • History.
  • 00:02:22.031 --> 00:02:23.366
  • They say today we live in the information age, well we live
  • 00:02:23.366 --> 00:02:26.836
  • In the access to information age because of our computers
  • 00:02:26.836 --> 00:02:30.273
  • And smart devices.
  • 00:02:30.273 --> 00:02:31.574
  • The real information age started in the 1400s,
  • 00:02:31.574 --> 00:02:34.377
  • Gutenberg and the initiative.
  • 00:02:34.377 --> 00:02:36.479
  • The mass printing of distribution of information to
  • 00:02:36.479 --> 00:02:39.949
  • The world out of the dark ages and set in motion the
  • 00:02:39.949 --> 00:02:45.955
  • Reformation, and renaissance.
  • 00:02:45.955 --> 00:02:47.557
  • So how could such a simple invention have such a massive
  • 00:02:47.557 --> 00:02:51.661
  • Impact?
  • 00:02:51.661 --> 00:02:52.862
  • Well it all comes down to the speed and accuracy which
  • 00:02:52.862 --> 00:02:56.466
  • Information spreads.
  • 00:02:56.466 --> 00:02:57.900
  • Where once messages could only travel by word-of-mouth or as
  • 00:02:57.900 --> 00:03:01.838
  • Fast as a horse, information can now spread as far and wide
  • 00:03:01.838 --> 00:03:05.642
  • As you can distribute.
  • 00:03:05.642 --> 00:03:07.410
  • This idea revolves around scalability.
  • 00:03:07.410 --> 00:03:10.313
  • Writing a page out by hand takes just as long the 1000th
  • 00:03:10.313 --> 00:03:13.650
  • Time you do it, as did the first.
  • 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:15.818
  • The printing press cuts that turned out exponentially.
  • 00:03:15.818 --> 00:03:19.289
  • Every copy after the next one takes a fraction of the time.
  • 00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:23.293
  • The speed and scope at which an idea could spread when it
  • 00:03:23.293 --> 00:03:26.796
  • It accelerates proportionately to print and circulation, in
  • 00:03:26.796 --> 00:03:30.933
  • Other words more prints, more power.
  • 00:03:30.933 --> 00:03:33.603
  • Welcome to the true start of the information age.
  • 00:03:33.603 --> 00:03:36.806
  • Before the printing press was invented, books were made
  • 00:03:36.806 --> 00:03:40.243
  • By scribes.
  • 00:03:40.243 --> 00:03:41.544
  • A scribe was basically a guy who has really good penmanship
  • 00:03:41.544 --> 00:03:45.014
  • And somehow turned into a job.
  • 00:03:45.014 --> 00:03:46.916
  • Each book had to be written and rewritten by hand, and
  • 00:03:46.916 --> 00:03:50.720
  • Yes, writing out an entire book with ink is just as
  • 00:03:50.720 --> 00:03:54.857
  • Difficult as it sounds.
  • 00:03:54.857 --> 00:03:56.359
  • Try writing out a single page by hand it's eb don't get a
  • 00:03:56.359 --> 00:04:00.229
  • Cramp, let alone an entire book.
  • 00:04:00.229 --> 00:04:03.299
  • Like we practiced, one, two, one, two.
  • 00:04:03.299 --> 00:04:06.402
  • Very good.
  • 00:04:06.402 --> 00:04:08.438
  • Writing out of book by hand took so long and was so hard to
  • 00:04:08.438 --> 00:04:13.176
  • Do, there weren't many books, people couldn't afford them.
  • 00:04:13.176 --> 00:04:17.080
  • $1 billion, $1 billion, look at those.
  • 00:04:17.080 --> 00:04:19.982
  • Payment plans, layaway we'll do anything.
  • 00:04:19.982 --> 00:04:21.284
  • In fact some of the biggest libraries out there only stock
  • 00:04:21.284 --> 00:04:27.457
  • About 100, and this remained the case in europe until
  • 00:04:27.457 --> 00:04:31.494
  • Johannes gutenberg came on scene right here in germany.
  • 00:04:31.494 --> 00:04:34.997
  • You see gutenberg's family had been coin makers here germany
  • 00:04:34.997 --> 00:04:39.035
  • For decades.
  • 00:04:39.035 --> 00:04:40.269
  • He applied his coin making knowledge to invent a screw
  • 00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:42.672
  • Type winepress in order to [indiscernible] evenly on
  • 00:04:42.672 --> 00:04:46.109
  • Metal letters.
  • 00:04:46.109 --> 00:04:47.610
  • This was the transformational idea.
  • 00:04:47.610 --> 00:04:49.812
  • [snoring]
  • 00:04:49.812 --> 00:04:55.518
  • - i think i just had an idea.
  • 00:04:55.518 --> 00:04:59.555
  • What if i made the letters individually out of metal and
  • 00:04:59.555 --> 00:05:04.627
  • Arranged them separately.
  • 00:05:04.627 --> 00:05:08.030
  • Move but type.
  • 00:05:08.030 --> 00:05:19.609
  • Let's be clear, movable letters made of metal alloys
  • 00:05:20.743 --> 00:05:22.678
  • Just like this what's the big innovation.
  • 00:05:22.678 --> 00:05:26.716
  • It is simple but groundbreaking you see he had
  • 00:05:26.716 --> 00:05:30.119
  • Experienced metal presses because of coinmaking, which
  • 00:05:30.119 --> 00:05:34.056
  • Allowed him to translate those same techniques to printing
  • 00:05:34.056 --> 00:05:38.461
  • Words on paper.
  • 00:05:38.461 --> 00:05:40.096
  • You name it, we can print it.
  • 00:05:40.096 --> 00:05:47.003
  • The other genius idea gutenberg had was to make all of the
  • 00:05:47.003 --> 00:05:51.274
  • Letters or characters separate instead of creating a
  • 00:05:51.274 --> 00:05:53.676
  • Full-page at a time.
  • 00:05:53.676 --> 00:05:54.977
  • This allowed them to rearrange the letters and create lines
  • 00:05:54.977 --> 00:05:57.980
  • Of copy way faster, not to mention before if you carved the
  • 00:05:57.980 --> 00:06:02.151
  • Entire page out of wood, and you spelled the last word
  • 00:06:02.151 --> 00:06:05.521
  • Wrong, there goes an entire week's worth of work.
  • 00:06:05.521 --> 00:06:08.858
  • -there's an error on page 12 you have to start
  • 00:06:08.858 --> 00:06:11.661
  • All over again.
  • 00:06:11.661 --> 00:06:13.629
  • Are they born to disappoint me, or getting kicked in the
  • 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:17.500
  • Head by a horse?
  • 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:18.768
  • The other big key to gutenberg's process is in his ink, the
  • 00:06:18.768 --> 00:06:28.077
  • Ink he created contained a metallic formula which is
  • 00:06:28.077 --> 00:06:31.714
  • Probably another idea got from his quit making days.
  • 00:06:31.714 --> 00:06:34.350
  • - you can thank me for that.
  • 00:06:34.350 --> 00:06:38.054
  • - this special ink easily stuck to the letter, a slight
  • 00:06:38.054 --> 00:06:41.524
  • Variation of this process and formula is still used in
  • 00:06:41.524 --> 00:06:44.861
  • Printing presses today.
  • 00:06:44.861 --> 00:06:46.462
  • And then to top it all off, gutenberg's final genius idea
  • 00:06:46.462 --> 00:06:49.699
  • Was a retrofitted winepress that he used flaten printing
  • 00:06:49.699 --> 00:06:52.902
  • Paper so that all the letters are printed smoothly.
  • 00:06:52.902 --> 00:06:55.738
  • - you can thank me for that again too.
  • 00:06:55.738 --> 00:07:00.109
  • - that little winepress idea is the forerunner to the
  • 00:07:01.210 --> 00:07:04.080
  • Newspaper presses we have today.
  • 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:07.450
  • Even today, inventing is not cheap, and in the 1400s, it
  • 00:07:07.450 --> 00:07:11.521
  • Was way harder to find someone to invest in your idea.
  • 00:07:11.521 --> 00:07:14.724
  • Especially if you are on the run like literally running for
  • 00:07:14.724 --> 00:07:19.161
  • Your life.
  • 00:07:19.161 --> 00:07:21.464
  • Here in mainz during the 1440s a working-class revolt through
  • 00:07:22.732 --> 00:07:26.235
  • The aristocracy out of power, and since the gutenbergs had
  • 00:07:26.235 --> 00:07:29.605
  • Been queen makers and associated themselves with the
  • 00:07:29.605 --> 00:07:32.875
  • Political elite, they were kicked out of town and had to
  • 00:07:32.875 --> 00:07:35.745
  • Look for a new place called home.
  • 00:07:35.745 --> 00:07:37.713
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:07:37.713 --> 00:07:44.220
  • So, he left everything behind and came here to
  • 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:48.758
  • Strasbourg france, he found himself in a brand-new
  • 00:07:48.758 --> 00:07:52.128
  • Place with a head full of ideas and barely a penny to
  • 00:07:52.128 --> 00:07:55.131
  • His name.
  • 00:07:55.131 --> 00:07:56.365
  • So he had to find someone to help offset the cost so he
  • 00:07:56.365 --> 00:07:59.035
  • Could continue working to developing his world changing
  • 00:07:59.035 --> 00:08:02.471
  • Invention.
  • 00:08:02.471 --> 00:08:03.139
  • If only i had more money.
  • 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:07.343
  • If you could call the number at the bottom of the screen,
  • 00:08:07.343 --> 00:08:11.514
  • You two can help an illiterate child.
  • 00:08:11.514 --> 00:08:16.052
  • Get a book that they don't know how to read but will soon
  • 00:08:16.052 --> 00:08:19.689
  • Learn how to read.
  • 00:08:19.689 --> 00:08:21.324
  • In 1452 gutenberg put his equipment up as collateral and
  • 00:08:21.324 --> 00:08:26.429
  • He borrowed a chunk of change from johann fust who he
  • 00:08:26.429 --> 00:08:30.800
  • Met right here in strasbourg.
  • 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.706
  • Mass information, mass production and mass
  • 00:08:36.806 --> 00:08:40.209
  • Distribution i present to you.
  • 00:08:40.209 --> 00:08:44.380
  • The gutenberg press.
  • 00:08:44.380 --> 00:08:47.817
  • Oh, somebody give me the ink.
  • 00:08:47.817 --> 00:09:00.196
  • Oh the news, your grandma, she's having a former party.
  • 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:09.939
  • Deal or no deal?
  • 00:09:10.373 --> 00:09:14.076
  • Sorry scruffy, i'm out.
  • 00:09:14.677 --> 00:09:19.982
  • Great, that's fine.
  • 00:09:20.516 --> 00:09:21.851
  • Yeah i just don't see reading taking off.
  • 00:09:21.851 --> 00:09:25.488
  • I am out.
  • 00:09:25.488 --> 00:09:26.989
  • All right.
  • 00:09:26.989 --> 00:09:32.361
  • What about i make you prime members?
  • 00:09:32.361 --> 00:09:34.764
  • I throw in two months free shipping for you, so long as
  • 00:09:34.764 --> 00:09:40.936
  • It does not catch the box and we have to burn all the things
  • 00:09:40.936 --> 00:09:44.206
  • On the ship.
  • 00:09:44.206 --> 00:09:47.576
  • Alive but not alive, all the things we've got to burn.
  • 00:09:47.576 --> 00:09:50.946
  • We cannot refund back, but buying all of that two months
  • 00:09:50.946 --> 00:09:55.885
  • Free shipping.
  • 00:09:55.885 --> 00:09:56.786
  • I like the idea a lot.
  • 00:09:56.786 --> 00:09:58.621
  • I think it could happen but i don't like you.
  • 00:09:58.621 --> 00:10:00.923
  • You walk in here, smug like you got something hot off the
  • 00:10:00.923 --> 00:10:06.128
  • Press, and look like that's not hot off the press.
  • 00:10:06.128 --> 00:10:08.564
  • That's barely oppressed.
  • 00:10:08.564 --> 00:10:11.133
  • That is too rich for my blood.
  • 00:10:11.133 --> 00:10:12.401
  • I am out.
  • 00:10:12.401 --> 00:10:13.436
  • I am prepared to give you all you ask for.
  • 00:10:13.436 --> 00:10:19.542
  • If you give me 35%.
  • 00:10:19.542 --> 00:10:23.813
  • - deal.
  • 00:10:24.146 --> 00:10:25.381
  • Fust also happened to be from gutenberg's hometown in
  • 00:10:25.381 --> 00:10:31.187
  • Mainz was a wealthy businessman, always looking
  • 00:10:31.187 --> 00:10:34.757
  • For a good investment.
  • 00:10:34.757 --> 00:10:36.025
  • He saw the potential of the printing press and decided i
  • 00:10:36.025 --> 00:10:39.295
  • Should probably just exist.
  • 00:10:39.295 --> 00:10:41.263
  • Gutenberg landed the investment, but he was not the
  • 00:10:41.263 --> 00:10:44.533
  • Best at managing his money and quickly ran out of cash from
  • 00:10:44.533 --> 00:10:47.503
  • That initial loan.
  • 00:10:47.503 --> 00:10:48.671
  • So he went back to his hometown buddy asking for
  • 00:10:48.671 --> 00:10:51.273
  • Another investment.
  • 00:10:51.273 --> 00:10:52.608
  • - i've already gone through it, don't you see how
  • 00:10:52.608 --> 00:10:55.544
  • Expensive it is to run?
  • 00:10:55.544 --> 00:10:57.913
  • I mean the ink, the paper i am already on version 3.0
  • 00:10:57.913 --> 00:11:02.618
  • And i'm going to push us to 3.5 too.
  • 00:11:02.618 --> 00:11:04.653
  • You did not know that going in?
  • 00:11:04.653 --> 00:11:07.556
  • No we did not.
  • 00:11:07.556 --> 00:11:09.191
  • We did not spend enough on r&d, i'm telling you we just
  • 00:11:09.191 --> 00:11:13.796
  • Did not spend enough.
  • 00:11:13.796 --> 00:11:16.031
  • While there's one condition.
  • 00:11:16.031 --> 00:11:17.933
  • All right, if i'm going to put anymore in this i want 51% or
  • 00:11:17.933 --> 00:11:22.905
  • Else.
  • 00:11:22.905 --> 00:11:24.173
  • - fust you're going to have me eat from your hand but i
  • 00:11:24.173 --> 00:11:26.175
  • Don't see what else i can do.
  • 00:11:26.175 --> 00:11:27.977
  • I'm going to have to accept your offer.
  • 00:11:27.977 --> 00:11:31.113
  • I think we have a deal.
  • 00:11:31.113 --> 00:11:31.914
  • All right, thanks.
  • 00:11:31.914 --> 00:11:32.882
  • All right, so like he was saying.
  • 00:11:32.882 --> 00:11:36.585
  • - this time he wanted in as partner in exchange for the
  • 00:11:36.585 --> 00:11:39.722
  • Loan.
  • 00:11:39.722 --> 00:11:40.990
  • Gutenberg agreed they shook hands on it and got to work.
  • 00:11:40.990 --> 00:11:44.059
  • Soon they were up and running and gutenberg decided to try a
  • 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:46.829
  • Couple small imprints like calendars and pamphlets.
  • 00:11:46.829 --> 00:11:50.065
  • That was venice on the phone, they're flying off the shelf.
  • 00:11:50.065 --> 00:11:56.372
  • - what's the next big idea?
  • 00:11:56.372 --> 00:11:58.774
  • - well i've been working on a little something, take a look.
  • 00:11:58.874 --> 00:12:01.944
  • - what is this?
  • 00:12:01.944 --> 00:12:02.912
  • - a calendar.
  • 00:12:02.912 --> 00:12:04.046
  • With firemen?
  • 00:12:04.046 --> 00:12:07.349
  • - you just wait till the ladies see september, those
  • 00:12:07.349 --> 00:12:12.822
  • Locks i tell you, they'll be swooning.
  • 00:12:12.822 --> 00:12:15.658
  • Give them the vapors.
  • 00:12:15.658 --> 00:12:18.160
  • - now, we have to pause for a second.
  • 00:12:18.160 --> 00:12:24.600
  • To those who have grown up in the access to information age
  • 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:27.069
  • With television, radio, magazines and computers, a few
  • 00:12:27.069 --> 00:12:31.140
  • Printed pamphlets may not seem like a lot, so it's difficult
  • 00:12:31.140 --> 00:12:35.544
  • To describe just how big of a deal printing really was.
  • 00:12:35.544 --> 00:12:39.682
  • It's like going from a horse to an airplane and one single
  • 00:12:39.682 --> 00:12:43.219
  • Leap.
  • 00:12:43.219 --> 00:12:44.486
  • - i don't know if you heard, but i am kind of a big deal.
  • 00:12:44.486 --> 00:12:49.225
  • - now fully financed, gutenberg decided to try out
  • 00:12:49.225 --> 00:12:53.762
  • And print an entire book.
  • 00:12:53.762 --> 00:12:55.464
  • Which again may not seem like much but this endeavor changed
  • 00:12:55.464 --> 00:13:00.035
  • History forever.
  • 00:13:00.035 --> 00:13:01.904
  • At the time, there were hardly any books available and they
  • 00:13:01.904 --> 00:13:05.741
  • Were usually owned by the elite but what was awesome that
  • 00:13:05.741 --> 00:13:09.245
  • Gutenberg understood the power of information.
  • 00:13:09.245 --> 00:13:12.781
  • - spread information.
  • 00:13:12.781 --> 00:13:14.083
  • Spread the power.
  • 00:13:14.083 --> 00:13:17.052
  • - access to knowledge meant access to power.
  • 00:13:17.052 --> 00:13:22.358
  • The elite were the only ones who could read meaning, they
  • 00:13:22.358 --> 00:13:26.495
  • Had all the information, thus they had all the power.
  • 00:13:26.495 --> 00:13:29.832
  • Gutenberg knew that if you spread that information, it
  • 00:13:29.832 --> 00:13:34.103
  • Would spread power, but how do you do that if most common
  • 00:13:34.103 --> 00:13:38.274
  • People don't know how to read?
  • 00:13:38.274 --> 00:13:41.744
  • - the books will come first, and then people will learn to
  • 00:13:41.744 --> 00:13:45.114
  • Read them.
  • 00:13:45.114 --> 00:13:47.182
  • - so what book would gutenberg print first?
  • 00:13:47.182 --> 00:13:49.418
  • I mean any book would have been impressive but for
  • 00:13:49.418 --> 00:13:52.821
  • Gutenberg, it was go big or go home.
  • 00:13:52.821 --> 00:13:55.424
  • So he started with the most popular and sacred book in the
  • 00:13:55.424 --> 00:13:57.960
  • World.
  • 00:13:57.960 --> 00:13:58.627
  • The bible.
  • 00:13:58.627 --> 00:14:00.996
  • - sing-along.
  • 00:14:00.996 --> 00:14:02.164
  • [singing]
  • 00:14:02.164 --> 00:14:04.867
  • Yes i know, you probably have a few bibles
  • 00:14:04.867 --> 00:14:08.771
  • Lying around your house right now.
  • 00:14:08.771 --> 00:14:10.906
  • And several different versions and sizes.
  • 00:14:10.906 --> 00:14:12.508
  • But really it's all things to gutenberg.
  • 00:14:12.508 --> 00:14:15.778
  • Back then people had to rely on the religious leaders of
  • 00:14:15.778 --> 00:14:18.747
  • The church to tell them what the bible said and to
  • 00:14:18.747 --> 00:14:21.050
  • Interpret it for them.
  • 00:14:21.050 --> 00:14:23.018
  • So printing a bunch of bibles had the potential of becoming
  • 00:14:23.018 --> 00:14:26.288
  • Very disruptive.
  • 00:14:26.288 --> 00:14:28.357
  • At least that's what the religious leaders were
  • 00:14:28.357 --> 00:14:30.292
  • Concerned about.
  • 00:14:30.292 --> 00:14:32.328
  • - this could be very disruptive.
  • 00:14:32.328 --> 00:14:35.164
  • It's even possible that one of the reasons gutenberg wanted
  • 00:14:35.164 --> 00:14:38.000
  • To print the bible was because of the corruption in the
  • 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.269
  • Religious establishments at the time.
  • 00:14:40.269 --> 00:14:42.338
  • So he got to work on 200 latin bibles, which was unheard of
  • 00:14:42.338 --> 00:14:47.076
  • At the time.
  • 00:14:47.076 --> 00:14:49.945
  • In order to understand the impact of this we had to talk
  • 00:14:49.945 --> 00:14:52.481
  • To dr. schneider at the gutenberg museum.
  • 00:14:52.481 --> 00:14:54.683
  • The printing press is created, books are printed, and
  • 00:14:54.683 --> 00:15:01.357
  • Literacy rates increased dramatically, so what was the
  • 00:15:01.357 --> 00:15:05.928
  • Effect of that?
  • 00:15:05.928 --> 00:15:07.930
  • - [speaking german]
  • 00:15:07.930 --> 00:16:01.784
  • - gutenberg decided to print 200 bibles, unheard of at
  • 00:16:01.784 --> 00:16:04.586
  • The time, so why the bible?
  • 00:16:04.586 --> 00:16:07.556
  • [speaking german]
  • 00:16:07.556 --> 00:16:57.773
  • - so how long would it take to print
  • 00:16:57.773 --> 00:16:59.808
  • 200 latin bibles?
  • 00:16:59.808 --> 00:17:00.709
  • [speaking german]
  • 00:17:00.709 --> 00:18:37.339
  • - so how much would a bible like that
  • 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:38.407
  • Have cost?
  • 00:18:38.407 --> 00:18:39.274
  • Could a common person afford one?
  • 00:18:39.274 --> 00:18:43.111
  • [speaking german]
  • 00:18:43.111 --> 00:19:45.807
  • - gutenberg's invention not only changed
  • 00:19:45.807 --> 00:19:47.409
  • The way people read, it changed the way people
  • 00:19:47.409 --> 00:19:49.745
  • Shared their ideas, even the idea of freedom of speech,
  • 00:19:49.745 --> 00:19:53.348
  • Ever heard of it?
  • 00:19:53.348 --> 00:19:55.050
  • Could be attributed to gutenberg's desire to want to
  • 00:19:55.050 --> 00:19:58.387
  • Spread information.
  • 00:19:58.387 --> 00:19:59.488
  • Even though gutenberg was a man of vision, he never
  • 00:19:59.488 --> 00:20:04.993
  • Profited from his invention why?
  • 00:20:04.993 --> 00:20:07.496
  • Because who are you going to sell 200 latin bibles to once
  • 00:20:07.496 --> 00:20:12.167
  • The three or four people in your community who could actually
  • 00:20:12.167 --> 00:20:15.704
  • Read latin, already purchased them.
  • 00:20:15.704 --> 00:20:19.574
  • - do not like the diction of your priest, you could read it
  • 00:20:19.574 --> 00:20:23.045
  • Yourself.
  • 00:20:23.045 --> 00:20:24.313
  • There is a picture of a staff in the shape of a snake on
  • 00:20:24.313 --> 00:20:29.418
  • Page 315.
  • 00:20:29.418 --> 00:20:30.786
  • I stand at the door and knock.
  • 00:20:30.786 --> 00:20:33.889
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:20:33.889 --> 00:20:39.394
  • You know sometimes i like to put my name right here with
  • 00:20:39.394 --> 00:20:44.399
  • The crayon so you know it's yours.
  • 00:20:44.399 --> 00:20:45.934
  • Hey, do you like to scare yourself to sleep?
  • 00:20:45.934 --> 00:20:49.705
  • Revelations.
  • 00:20:49.705 --> 00:20:50.972
  • - since gutenberg couldn't make the money to pay back the
  • 00:20:50.972 --> 00:20:53.575
  • Loan, things got a little heated, eventually leading to
  • 00:20:53.575 --> 00:20:56.745
  • Gutenberg stopping the press literally.
  • 00:20:56.745 --> 00:21:00.015
  • Fust closed on him and sued him for all his equipment
  • 00:21:00.015 --> 00:21:04.252
  • Including all of his bibles.
  • 00:21:04.252 --> 00:21:06.154
  • You are out of luck, you've been repossessed.
  • 00:21:06.154 --> 00:21:14.963
  • And get this.
  • 00:21:15.397 --> 00:21:16.698
  • Schoefferr went to form a new printing company with all of
  • 00:21:16.698 --> 00:21:20.969
  • Gutenberg's seized equipment.
  • 00:21:20.969 --> 00:21:23.538
  • It's interesting schoefferr actually argued to be a better
  • 00:21:23.538 --> 00:21:26.475
  • Printer and typographer than gutenberg.
  • 00:21:26.475 --> 00:21:28.710
  • After he took over the presses he began experimenting with
  • 00:21:28.710 --> 00:21:31.446
  • Combining colors and various types of printing on a single
  • 00:21:31.446 --> 00:21:34.716
  • Page.
  • 00:21:34.716 --> 00:21:36.017
  • If you think about it, schoeffer is really the first graphic
  • 00:21:36.017 --> 00:21:38.320
  • Designer, his very first graphic design project was a
  • 00:21:38.320 --> 00:21:42.023
  • Color version of the book of psalms.
  • 00:21:42.023 --> 00:21:44.159
  • Fust and schoeffer would finally make the printing business
  • 00:21:44.159 --> 00:21:48.964
  • Profitable, their business would expand
  • 00:21:48.964 --> 00:21:51.867
  • Through mainz, paris, venice and several other places in europe.
  • 00:21:51.867 --> 00:21:55.270
  • But their idea to open up a print shop in venice was by
  • 00:21:55.270 --> 00:21:57.906
  • Far one of the smartest moves.
  • 00:21:57.906 --> 00:22:00.375
  • You see venice in the 15th century with the central
  • 00:22:00.375 --> 00:22:04.346
  • Shipping hub for the entire mediterranean, if you printed
  • 00:22:04.346 --> 00:22:07.916
  • Books there, instead of being confined to just a few people
  • 00:22:07.916 --> 00:22:10.685
  • In your community that could read you could sell a couple
  • 00:22:10.685 --> 00:22:13.889
  • Copies to captains of every ship and they would take them
  • 00:22:13.889 --> 00:22:17.225
  • And sell them in the cities that they dock.
  • 00:22:17.225 --> 00:22:20.395
  • Mass distribution means that mass production and soon
  • 00:22:20.395 --> 00:22:23.999
  • Information is spreading across the seas literally.
  • 00:22:23.999 --> 00:22:29.404
  • Since literacy rates were still very low in 1490s locals
  • 00:22:29.404 --> 00:22:32.874
  • Would gather in a pub to hear someone read the news to
  • 00:22:32.874 --> 00:22:35.477
  • Everyone.
  • 00:22:35.477 --> 00:22:36.778
  • Which is everything from war reports to political scandals.
  • 00:22:36.778 --> 00:22:39.581
  • Plague, plague, plague.
  • 00:22:39.581 --> 00:22:41.550
  • That's the headline.
  • 00:22:41.550 --> 00:22:43.485
  • All right, so clearly the black death is upon us.
  • 00:22:43.485 --> 00:22:48.957
  • - earth not flat.
  • 00:22:48.957 --> 00:22:50.292
  • Peasants revolt.
  • 00:22:50.292 --> 00:22:52.727
  • Everybody was really upset they started tearing down the
  • 00:22:52.727 --> 00:22:57.632
  • Statute.
  • 00:22:57.632 --> 00:22:58.967
  • Da vinci paints a smiling woman.
  • 00:22:58.967 --> 00:23:02.471
  • Galileo says think for yourself.
  • 00:23:02.471 --> 00:23:06.141
  • I don't know about you, every time i try to think for myself
  • 00:23:06.141 --> 00:23:09.744
  • I end up sleeping on the couch.
  • 00:23:09.744 --> 00:23:12.514
  • - conspiracy monthly.
  • 00:23:13.081 --> 00:23:17.986
  • Are there aliens?
  • 00:23:17.986 --> 00:23:20.956
  • Yes.
  • 00:23:20.956 --> 00:23:22.824
  • Information was finally accessible to the general
  • 00:23:22.824 --> 00:23:25.694
  • Public.
  • 00:23:25.694 --> 00:23:26.862
  • The commoner was starting to become more aware of the
  • 00:23:26.862 --> 00:23:28.997
  • Issues going on in their country and leaders and even
  • 00:23:28.997 --> 00:23:32.734
  • With what was happening in other parts of the world.
  • 00:23:32.734 --> 00:23:38.206
  • Folks $2.50 for the books, $2.50.
  • 00:23:38.206 --> 00:23:41.877
  • Soon there will be over a thousand printers in over 200
  • 00:23:41.877 --> 00:23:45.547
  • Cities across europe.
  • 00:23:45.547 --> 00:23:46.948
  • Information was coming out at the speed of 200-1000 books at
  • 00:23:46.948 --> 00:23:51.086
  • A time.
  • 00:23:51.086 --> 00:23:51.753
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:23:51.753 --> 00:23:59.694
  • Before gutenberg nearly all of the books in europe were written
  • 00:23:59.694 --> 00:24:03.031
  • In latin.
  • 00:24:03.031 --> 00:24:04.366
  • The language of the elite.
  • 00:24:04.366 --> 00:24:07.035
  • But here's the genius of gutenberg's invention.
  • 00:24:07.035 --> 00:24:10.272
  • His movable typeset made it possible to quickly rearrange
  • 00:24:10.272 --> 00:24:12.908
  • These letters to create words in other languages.
  • 00:24:12.908 --> 00:24:16.578
  • Taking the exclusivity and information out of the
  • 00:24:16.578 --> 00:24:19.047
  • Hands of the elite and into the hands of the common
  • 00:24:19.047 --> 00:24:22.217
  • Person.
  • 00:24:22.217 --> 00:24:23.485
  • In just a few decades, literacy skyrocketed.
  • 00:24:23.485 --> 00:24:26.555
  • Giving access to information and printing books in
  • 00:24:26.555 --> 00:24:30.425
  • Languages like german, french, and english permanently
  • 00:24:30.425 --> 00:24:34.296
  • Altered the power structures of people.
  • 00:24:34.296 --> 00:24:37.465
  • Altogether.
  • 00:24:37.465 --> 00:24:38.133
  • I before e except after c.
  • 00:24:38.133 --> 00:24:42.003
  • One more time.
  • 00:24:42.003 --> 00:24:49.711
  • More europeans of lower social and economic status could now
  • 00:24:49.711 --> 00:24:51.079
  • Afford personal copies of scientific, religious, and
  • 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:55.617
  • Political texts the common person was starting to think
  • 00:24:55.617 --> 00:25:01.456
  • For themselves.
  • 00:25:01.456 --> 00:25:02.724
  • - reading is going viral.
  • 00:25:02.724 --> 00:25:05.327
  • - think about it, for 1000 years humanity has been stuck in the
  • 00:25:05.327 --> 00:25:11.900
  • Dark ages.
  • 00:25:11.900 --> 00:25:13.068
  • All the sudden boom, gutenberg's invention allowed
  • 00:25:13.068 --> 00:25:14.469
  • The spreading of ideas and discoveries across all sectors
  • 00:25:14.469 --> 00:25:18.473
  • Of society.
  • 00:25:18.473 --> 00:25:20.942
  • This started a widespread cultural revolution.
  • 00:25:21.943 --> 00:25:25.380
  • A world of secret knowledge only available to the elite
  • 00:25:25.380 --> 00:25:28.583
  • Was now available to anyone and not everyone was happy
  • 00:25:28.583 --> 00:25:32.187
  • About it.
  • 00:25:32.187 --> 00:25:32.988
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:25:32.988 --> 00:25:40.829
  • - many of the religious leaders were not happy either,
  • 00:25:40.829 --> 00:25:44.099
  • The common person no longer had to rely on the church for
  • 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:47.369
  • The reading and interpretation of scripture, it was now
  • 00:25:47.369 --> 00:25:49.204
  • Possible for the common person to read the bible for
  • 00:25:49.204 --> 00:25:52.307
  • Themselves.
  • 00:25:52.307 --> 00:25:53.608
  • And come up with their own opinion on it.
  • 00:25:53.608 --> 00:25:55.777
  • I know who would've thought right?
  • 00:25:55.777 --> 00:25:57.912
  • - they are making us look like fools.
  • 00:25:57.912 --> 00:26:00.115
  • And we're not happy about it.
  • 00:26:00.115 --> 00:26:03.018
  • - in some european countries nothing could be printed
  • 00:26:03.018 --> 00:26:07.589
  • Without the catholic church or could only be printed by
  • 00:26:07.589 --> 00:26:12.093
  • Government authorized printers.
  • 00:26:12.093 --> 00:26:13.428
  • And in a few places throughout europe, printers would be held
  • 00:26:13.428 --> 00:26:16.331
  • Responsible rather than the authors for the spread of
  • 00:26:16.331 --> 00:26:18.166
  • Unwanted ideas.
  • 00:26:18.166 --> 00:26:19.367
  • Some of the printers would be executed.
  • 00:26:19.367 --> 00:26:22.103
  • - what are you in for?
  • 00:26:22.103 --> 00:26:23.571
  • - i read the book.
  • 00:26:23.571 --> 00:26:25.607
  • - oh the book?
  • 00:26:25.607 --> 00:26:27.642
  • - what did you do?
  • 00:26:27.642 --> 00:26:28.643
  • - i was told it was a coloring book.
  • 00:26:28.643 --> 00:26:32.313
  • - i killed a man.
  • 00:26:32.313 --> 00:26:34.849
  • And then i read a book.
  • 00:26:34.849 --> 00:26:36.918
  • - can you imagine being executed for reposting
  • 00:26:36.918 --> 00:26:41.056
  • Something in your social media that somebody else did not
  • 00:26:41.056 --> 00:26:43.858
  • Agree with?
  • 00:26:43.858 --> 00:26:44.626
  • That's basically how it was.
  • 00:26:44.626 --> 00:26:46.695
  • It was a dangerous life.
  • 00:26:46.695 --> 00:26:48.096
  • In 1501 pope alexander vi promised excommunication for
  • 00:26:48.096 --> 00:26:54.703
  • Anyone who printed manuscripts without the church's approval.
  • 00:26:54.703 --> 00:26:58.440
  • 20 years later, books from john calvin and martin
  • 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:02.110
  • Luther spread throughout europe, bringing into reality
  • 00:27:02.110 --> 00:27:06.114
  • What pope alexander had feared.
  • 00:27:06.114 --> 00:27:08.883
  • Excommunicated, spell that with your movable type.
  • 00:27:08.883 --> 00:27:12.087
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:27:12.087 --> 00:27:16.224
  • - in another example 1 of the manuscripts outlawed was not
  • 00:27:16.224 --> 00:27:20.261
  • The gutenberg bible but the wycliffe bible translated
  • 00:27:20.261 --> 00:27:23.264
  • By william tyndale a leading figure in the
  • 00:27:23.264 --> 00:27:26.468
  • Protestant reformation.
  • 00:27:26.468 --> 00:27:27.669
  • Anybody found in possession of a wycliffe bible got the
  • 00:27:27.669 --> 00:27:30.205
  • Death penalty like this guy.
  • 00:27:30.205 --> 00:27:33.007
  • - that's wycliffe you idiot.
  • 00:27:33.007 --> 00:27:35.343
  • - tyndale was eventually convicted of heresy and burned
  • 00:27:35.343 --> 00:27:39.114
  • At the stake just printing his own translation of the bible.
  • 00:27:39.114 --> 00:27:44.285
  • Like i said, dangerous.
  • 00:27:44.285 --> 00:27:46.154
  • But, his dying prayer was that the king of england's eyes
  • 00:27:46.154 --> 00:27:49.991
  • Would be open.
  • 00:27:49.991 --> 00:27:51.392
  • That prayer seemed to be answered a year later when
  • 00:27:51.392 --> 00:27:54.028
  • King henry authorized the mass printing of the matthew bible
  • 00:27:54.028 --> 00:27:57.732
  • Which was largely based on tyndale's translation.
  • 00:27:57.732 --> 00:28:00.401
  • After that breakthrough, the church of england would go on
  • 00:28:00.401 --> 00:28:03.505
  • To authorize several other versions.
  • 00:28:03.505 --> 00:28:05.406
  • The printing press played a key role in spreading these
  • 00:28:05.406 --> 00:28:08.777
  • Reformation ideas around the globe.
  • 00:28:08.777 --> 00:28:11.045
  • Eventually this led to all the bible options we have
  • 00:28:11.045 --> 00:28:14.516
  • Available today.
  • 00:28:14.516 --> 00:28:15.683
  • Spanning over a thousand languages, sizes, and
  • 00:28:15.683 --> 00:28:18.486
  • Versions.
  • 00:28:18.486 --> 00:28:19.788
  • In time, most of the strict revelations on printing would
  • 00:28:19.788 --> 00:28:26.060
  • Eventually crumble throughout the western world.
  • 00:28:26.060 --> 00:28:27.962
  • Over the centuries, numerous political regimes have tried
  • 00:28:27.962 --> 00:28:32.000
  • To stop the freedom of information from news to
  • 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:35.069
  • Politics to religion.
  • 00:28:35.069 --> 00:28:36.304
  • Even today, people fight to maintain their freedom to
  • 00:28:36.304 --> 00:28:40.408
  • Express their viewpoints and beliefs.
  • 00:28:40.408 --> 00:28:42.977
  • Another huge effect the printing press had was on
  • 00:28:42.977 --> 00:28:49.083
  • Language itself.
  • 00:28:49.083 --> 00:28:50.552
  • Printers knew they needed to standardize the printed
  • 00:28:50.552 --> 00:28:53.121
  • Language so that it could be understood from one end of the
  • 00:28:53.121 --> 00:28:55.523
  • Country to the other.
  • 00:28:55.523 --> 00:28:56.791
  • They had to decide between different versions of the same
  • 00:28:56.791 --> 00:28:59.627
  • Words and official spellings.
  • 00:28:59.627 --> 00:29:01.563
  • They were basically setting the language in stone.
  • 00:29:01.563 --> 00:29:05.767
  • Or bronze.
  • 00:29:05.767 --> 00:29:06.501
  • Like bill shakespeare here.
  • 00:29:06.501 --> 00:29:09.404
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:29:09.404 --> 00:29:15.009
  • - today we live in a world where messages are constantly
  • 00:29:15.009 --> 00:29:18.146
  • Going viral.
  • 00:29:18.146 --> 00:29:19.347
  • Instead of waiting for the press to run every morning
  • 00:29:19.347 --> 00:29:21.649
  • Everybody has a printing press in their pockets.
  • 00:29:21.649 --> 00:29:24.619
  • I think this is leading us to our own gutenberg moment.
  • 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:30.124
  • The tools for creating and sharing information are
  • 00:29:30.124 --> 00:29:32.560
  • Available at our fingertips and like the invention of the
  • 00:29:32.560 --> 00:29:36.364
  • Printing press, the rise of digital communication tools
  • 00:29:36.364 --> 00:29:39.267
  • Will likely lead to multiple revolutions.
  • 00:29:39.267 --> 00:29:41.769
  • Economically, politically, i mean come on it's already
  • 00:29:41.769 --> 00:29:45.173
  • Changed the way people are dating.
  • 00:29:45.173 --> 00:29:46.541
  • It was gutenberg's invention that helped lay the foundation
  • 00:29:46.541 --> 00:29:50.078
  • For our modern lives.
  • 00:29:50.078 --> 00:29:51.646
  • Our freedom of speech, our freedom of the press, and
  • 00:29:51.646 --> 00:29:55.550
  • Really our transparent communication across
  • 00:29:55.550 --> 00:29:58.686
  • All facets of society can be traced back to gutenberg and
  • 00:29:58.686 --> 00:30:02.156
  • While he may have never profited from his invention,
  • 00:30:02.156 --> 00:30:04.125
  • Everyone after him has.
  • 00:30:04.125 --> 00:30:06.227
  • Access to information is redefined and who has a voice,
  • 00:30:06.227 --> 00:30:11.866
  • Who can shape the narrative, and who can influence society
  • 00:30:11.866 --> 00:30:14.202
  • For good or bad.
  • 00:30:14.202 --> 00:30:15.670
  • It's now up to you and i to make sure information we share
  • 00:30:15.670 --> 00:30:20.174
  • Will help us press on in the future.
  • 00:30:20.174 --> 00:30:25.146
  • ♪ (music playing) ♪
  • 00:30:25.146 --> 00:30:25.146