Some conjecture that Gutenberg's exposure to metal casting methods in the family goldsmithing business gave him the skills necessary to create the individual, reusable letters cast in metal--the "movable type"--to set pages.
While the Chinese invented a form of moveable type about five hundred years earlier and continued to make improvements to their methods, restrictions of the language, religion, culture and materials kept the technology from widespread use.
Whatever inspired Gutenberg to his printing ideas, he needed to have worked extremely diligently in a variety of subject areas—what we know now as chemistry and mechanical engineering—to bring the printing press to practical application. His metal type necessitated his invention of
While the Chinese invented a form of moveable type about five hundred years earlier and continued to make improvements to their methods, restrictions of the language, religion, culture and materials kept the technology from widespread use.
Whatever inspired Gutenberg to his printing ideas, he needed to have worked extremely diligently in a variety of subject areas—what we know now as chemistry and mechanical engineering—to bring the printing press to practical application. His metal type necessitated his invention of