Inventions of the 15th Century
Inventions of the 15th Century
Although many of the inventions were to help medicine, astronomy and other sciences, there were inventions that just made life easier. The development of the printing press made the spreading of knowledge through literature faster and cheaper. Before Johannes Gutenberg developed it in 1436, monks had to hand copy everything, making books rare and very expensive. Gutenberg put ink on hundreds of individual letters that could be combined to make one page of text. Many copies could be made of that page. Then, to print a different page, the individual letters had to be rearranged. It was in 1456 that Gutenberg mass-produced the Bible, his greatest achievement. Since then, the printing press has enabled educational material, as well as literature, to be spread with greater ease.
The flush toilet is another development that was and has been very helpful to society. Before the toilet, waste was buried in the ground or disposed of in the streets, which were very unsanitary ways and led to many illnesses. So in 1504, Sir John Harrington invented a toilet that had a valve, which would release water from a water closet when pulled. However, it did not catch on until drainage systems were installed in cities.
The printing press and the toilet are two inventions that have come a long way from the Renaissance and are still used extensively today. One invention from the Renaissance that we as a society tends to take for granted and over look is the match. Just think how much easier life is because of the match. People no longer have to sit and rub two sticks together or try to get a spark by striking flint to steel, both being very time consuming processes when Robert Boyle discovered that when sulfur and phosphorus are rubbed together, they combust. That match was soon to come, 1680 to be exact. However, he had not yet developed the safety match, therefore the matches sometimes combusted while in a pocket.