concluded—but by inventing a dramatically improved way of rapidly
crafting the reusable molds.
Gutenberg was a driven capitalist, but would never profit from his
invention. In fact, it appears that he died with little money and scant
celebrity. Experimentation with ink, press, and paper continued. Chemicals
from gallnuts (bulbs formed on oak trees from wasp larva) were combined
with soot, oil, and water to make an ink that was ideal for printing. Paper,
and its “sizing” with animal fats, was also modified. Gutenberg and his
partners tinkered with the degree of paper dampness, so that a perfectly
moistened sheet of paper received well the ink from the punches. It was
now time to produce his masterpiece, the printed Latin Vulgate Bible.
In every way imaginable, it is a masterpiece. “Gutenberg would need to
match scribal Bibles in beauty and exceed them in accuracy, in two
glorious, fat volumes totaling 1,275 pages. There might be a media
revolution brewing, but it was essential not to look revolutionary, for
otherwise no one would buy.”^14 In essence, this was to be presented as a
new form of writing, and since medieval scribes were so accurate, it was
possible for this new printed book to pass as a magnificent and stately
work of scribal art.
Having succeeded at last, with an astounding display of brilliance and
perseverance, Gutenberg almost lost everything to his partners and
colleagues, only by the skin of his teeth avoiding poverty and obscurity.
And having produced one of the greatest publications, he ushered in a
revolution—the Reformation—that blew Christian unity apart forever.^15
When thinking of the European awakening of intellectual curiosity that
started in the 14th century, it is too simplistic to exclusively think of
Renaissance artists and their Medici patronage. On a scientific front, the
rebirth was characterized by a nostalgia for classical thinking that was in
large part fueled by a rediscovery of ancient texts from a most unlikely
source.
During the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527–565 C.E.), no one
on earth could have guessed that within a century, the preeminent power in
the Mediterranean and near East would arise from within the Arabian
Peninsula. Its founder would organize clans and tribes, introduce a new
religion, unify the region between the Nile and Oxus under one language,
and inspire the preservation of scientific and mathematical knowledge
from ancient scholars. The orphaned prophet—who was most likely