The Machine That Made UsQuestion 1: Components of a Gutenberg printing pressAside from the ink, Fry and his counterparts made three other essential componentsrequired for the Gutenberg printing press to function. These are the spindle or wooden screw,the nut, and the hose in which the spindle turns. These three are among the most exactingelements of the press (Timeline, 2018). They are especially exacting because they must bemade using only 15 th -century techniques and materials.Question 2: What I found interesting about the making of these componentsI found it interesting that the components had to be designed and made from theimaginations of Fry and his counterparts. This is because no one knows what Gutenberg’sprinting press looked like. There are no descriptions, plan, or illustrations that would help onecome up with a close replica of the machine; only remnants of materials printed on the pressexist.Question 3: What is a scriptorium? Describe the room and the working conditions.A scriptorium was a room where books were written or illuminated (or painted). Ascribe staffed the room wrote the text and an artist referred to as an illuminator, painted thedecoration and pictures. The two made all books by hand. As these were exclusive spacesmostly owned by the Church, working conditions were satisfactory (Liulevicius, 2020).

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Question 4: Why the printing of papal indulgences encouraged the Church to support
the idea of mass-printed Bibles
The printing of papal indulgences encouraged the Church to support the idea of mass-
printed Bibles because the printing of Bibles en masse enabled the Church to ensure that only
approved and uniform versions of the Bible were in circulation and in use (Liulevicius,
2020). This was important because this was a period of great uncertainty and controversies in
Christianity and the Church needed to affirm its authority by all means possible.
Question 5: Why does Fry remark that it is “so much more beautiful than it need to
have been”? Make sure to reference some of the overarching themes of the
documentary in your answer.
By this statement Fry likely means that the reconstructed Gutenberg press that he and
his colleagues built is possibly better than Gutenberg’s. This is possible because, unlike
Gutenberg whose creation was novel, Fry and his team were able to reconstruct the machine
with the benefit of hindsight. The accomplishment of Fry and his team is consistent with the
documentary’s overarching theme of creativity.
Question 6: What is the significance that someone in “a monastery in Germany (or) a
palace in Florence” might look at the exact same printed page as another in “a private
house in Amsterdam”?
The significance of this statement is that Gutenberg’s press revolutionized printing in
several ways, including making it possible to print and distribute uniform versions of a text or
book. Before the printing press, texts were handwritten and therefore prone to a great deal of
variability (Saxe, 2008). Moreover, the production of handwritten books was a slow, tedious,
and time-consuming activity. Particularly within Christianity, the uniformity made possible
by the printing press ensured that there was less room for erroneous and misleading doctrines.

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Question 7: Why does Fry refer to Gutenberg’s printing press as “the machine that
made us”?
By saying that Gutenberg’s was the machine that made us, Fry implies that
Gutenberg’s press had far-reaching impact on the world, impact that lasted for five centuries
since the invention of the machine. The machine revolutionized the society of Guttenberg’s
day, facilitated social movements like the Renaissance, and pioneered the scientific
revolution (Liulevicius, 2020). The invention also had a huge impact religion, from
strengthening the Church’s authority to laying the foundation for the Protestant Movement.
Question 8: What invention do you think is the most prominent in our new information
age? What revolutionary changes do you imagine?
I think the most prominent invention of our new information age is the World Wide
Web (or the Internet). If the printing press made information more accessible to the masses,
the Internet took such access a notch higher and at a fraction of what it costs to access printed
information. The revolutionary change I imagine is that the Internet may someday render
obsolete the printed text.

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References

Timeline. (2018, August 25). How The Printing Press Revolutionized The World | The
Machine That Made Us | Timeline. Retrieved from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ88yC35NjI
Liulevicius, V. (2020, June 21). The Religious Impact of the Printing Press. Retrieved from
Wondrium: https://www.thegreatcoursesdaily.com/the-religious-impact-of-the-
printing-press/
Saxe, S. O. (2008, November). “The Machine That Made US”. APHA Newsletter, pp. 1-2.