Before Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in the late fifteenth century, books were created during the age of the scribes, where people copied books manually by hand, making it slow and expensive \cite[4]{printing}. The shift from script to print was one of the most important events of our civilization \cite[5]{press}.


Gutenberg's idea was to combine \emph{two existing technologies}, printing and the press. Printing was done using carved wooden blocks, and the press was used to crush grapes to extract juice \cite[4]{printing}. Another advancement was to use pieces of metal instead of carved wooden blocks so they could be continued to be used \cite[4]{printing}.


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Gutenberg had spent over 20 years and his life savings into building the printing press \cite[10]{gutenberg}, and never received a penny for his invention. It wasn't until the $16^{th}$ century that he was given credit as the inventor \cite[15]{gutenberg}, however, his impact on the world has not gone unseen since. In 1453, Gutenberg began working on a three volume bible. At that time, one bible would take four years to complete, but with the advent of the printing press, it could be produced 90 times faster. This meant that books were not only for the wealthy, but for everyone, which ultimately began the movement for the democratization of knowledge \cite[5]{printing}. 


``After the advent of printing however, the transmission of written information became much more efficient. It was not only the craftsman outside universities who profited from the new opportunities to teach himself. Of equal importance was the chance extended to bright undergraduates to reach beyond their teachers' grasp'' \cite[66]{press}.


Age of Scribes to the Printing Press