What Had The Most Profound Impact On Early Modern Europe

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Which had the most profound impact on early modern Europe; the invention of printing, or the scientific ‘revolution’? The early modern period fostered rapid and irrevocable growth, ushering in a new age of inquiry, advancements, and knowledge, which formed a decisive break with the past. The development of moveable type by Gutenberg from 1450 transformed society, and strides made in scientific understanding in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, and mathematics permanently altered the contemporary view of the world. Elizabeth Eisenstein implicates the printing press in the formation of the Scientific Revolution, as well as the Renaissance, and the Protestant Reformation, establishing it as highly impactual. Encompassing scientific gains within the jurisdiction of the invention of the printing press establishes the technology as greatly influential and would demote the scientific progress to a secondary development. However, Adrian Johns contests this causative view is overly-simplistic; as…show more content…
This establishes the technology’s role as an agent of change rather than the sole origin. Indeed, when assessing scientific progressions it is evident the role of the individual genius is of paramount importance. The context and intellectual climate of the age can be seen as forming the essential basis upon which the impact of both advances originate. The Humanist movement, Renaissance and later the Enlightenment bred a climate of inquiry, without which, the press would not have been so heavily utilised, and scientific discourse would not have been so progressive. Overall, the printing press had a greater impact than the strides made in science. However, this must be assessed in conjunction

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