The Great Inventions were known in the Middle Ages which were perfected in the fifteenth century, at the beginning of the Modern Age, for this reason human culture underwent such a radical transformation that it can be said without exaggeration that no other era in history has had such a powerful projections for the future.
These events that revolutionized the world occurred at the beginning of the Modern Age with the improvement of four great inventions:Gunpowder, Compass, Paper and Printing (three Asian and one European).
The Gunpowder
Since ancient times, the Chinese have known a mixture of sulfur, coal and saltpeter, which was the gunpowder used in the great festivals for fireworks.
The Arabs discovered this Chinese invention and used it to create firearms , using the expansive force of the gases, in order to launch, through a metal tube, a heavy iron or stone bullet.
When the Arabs waged the Holy War, they brought gunpowder to Europe. It is believed, however, that two Europeans, the Englishman Roger Bacon and the German Bertoldo Schwartz, also invented a gunpowder without knowing that of the Chinese. It is even stated that the monk Schwartz died tragically, for having exploded the deposits where he carried out his experiments.
Gunpowder influenced human culture in three ways, for which it was one of the great inventions:
- I modify the military tactics, for from now on the armies no longer needed to get close to fight hand-to-hand.
- I decrease the power of the nobility , because with gunpowder it was easy to attack feudal castles, shelling them from afar. These castles were previously impregnable.
- I facilitate great conquests , (Pizarro conquered Peru with the help of gunpowder).
The Compass
Since about a thousand years before the Christian Era, the Chinese knew the property of a magnetized needle to always point to one of the magnetic poles of the earth. But the Chinese compass was very imperfect, for it consisted of a needle supported on a cork floating in a vessel of water. In the past it was very difficult for sailors to navigate safely, because there were no facilities to navigate. The navigators who traveled through the Northern Hemisphere used the Pole Star, and those who traveled through the Southern Hemisphere were guided by the Southern Cross; but when the sky was cloudy, any attempt at orientation was impossible. The Chinese compass was almost useless in getting precise directions.
For this reason, it is considered that the true inventor of the compass was the Italian navigator Flavio Gioja, who, in the fourteenth century, reformed the Chinese invention, replacing the cork with an axis, enclosing the needle in a small box and adding the Nautical Rose.
The compass made possible the great discoveries of the Portuguese and Spanish. From then on, the navigators left more confident to sail the seas, since the compass indicated the precise route they had to follow, both day and night. For these reasons the compass is considered one of the great inventions.
The Paper
In ancient times, three materials were used to write:papyrus, enclosed tablets and parchment. The Chinese devised a new element to stamp writing:paper. They did it by macerating old rags with a rubbery substance and pressing this mixture until it was reduced to thin sheets. The earliest form of paper was cardboard.
The Arabs made the paper known to the Europeans and the invention soon became widespread in Europe, because the use of the shirt facilitated its manufacture. With the old shirts, the Spaniards made paper and set up factories in Toledo and Valencia. The paper helped the printing press and facilitated the spread of culture. Without paper, the printing press would not have been able to carry out the transformation of the World, since papyrus was brittle, wax tablets were only good for writing with the stylus, and parchment was not suitable for making a perfect impression, that is why paper is one of the great inventions of the modern age.
The Printing House
This invention was gradually improving. The Dutch and Germans in the fifteenth century knew how to do wood engraving, reproducing portraits and religious books. The painter Alberto Durero devised the first woodcuts, that is, wood engravings with landscapes, portraits and other artistic works. Later, Lorenzo Coster, devised movable wooden types, with various separate letters, in such a way that they could be combined and form an infinite number of words.
But this invention was still imperfect, because the types of wood were worn very quickly or were deformed by the humidity of the ink. It was then that a German from Mainz, called Juan Gutenberg (1536), devised metal types, made with a mixture of lead and tin.
With the help of Pedro Schoefer and Juan Fust, Gutenberg was able to complete his invention by making a special ink and a hand press to make many prints in a few hours. The first printed book was a bible. They were called incunabula to the books made at the time when the printing machine just appeared.
Consequences of the Great Inventions:The Printing Press
The invention of the printing press is one of the great events in human history. It can be affirmed that there are two periods in it:before the Printing Press and after the Printing Press. The printing press is one of the great inventions, so great has been the influence it has exerted on culture, that it is difficult to specify the numerous consequences that derived from it. We will point out a few:
- Culture spread, because books became cheaper and became available to the people.
- Religious faith changed , because the sacred books (the Gospels above all), were read and studied by everyone. Each one interpreted the teachings of Christ in his own way and it can be said that the printing press prepared the religious revolution.
- Journalism was born , which is why the first newspapers began to be published in the 17th century.
At present the Printing Press has been perfected so much that it has reached a wonderful speed and precision thanks to the Linotype and the Rotary Machine.
The Linotype , performs the miracle of instantly making its own types. These types are lead and melt after use. So you always have new types, freshly made.
The rotary machine , makes very fast, numerous and perfect impressions. It saves efforts and is economical.