methodically, which had a sound foundation in philosophy and the natural
order.”^31
The combined work of Constantine and the translators in Toledo
sparked an interest in learning that been in hibernation throughout Europe
for a millennium. The popularization of paper by the Muslims, combined
with sourcebooks—now in Latin—fueled an intellectual awakening. For
the thousand years that spanned the codex as the standard manuscript
format until the 15th century, all Western books were copied by hand.^32
Scribes would often gather at a monastery’s scriptorium, where copying of
religious texts occurred under close supervision of a chief calligrapher.
Until Gutenberg’s innovation, book production remained exceptionally
tedious and costly, but the mechanization of book production dramatically
unlocked the ability to disseminate new ideas.
“The Renaissance was one of those few historical periods that
discovered itself, rather than being defined by hindsight.”^33 It would have
been obvious to any curious soul that it was an era of unique access. The
connectivity that pulsed through Europe exposed the great minds to classic
works and the insights of other savants. In turn, mutual access to the
cognoscenti inspired discussion, fueled dissent, and triggered widespread
criticism of authorities.
The slow dissemination of information from master to apprentice was
permanently altered in the 15th century. The foundations of medicine and
surgery were built by Hippocrates and his followers 2,500 years ago;
Galen expanded upon these writings in the early Christian era, but his
authority was little challenged in Europe and only slightly meaningfully in
the Islamic House of Wisdom. The work of Latin translators and the
introduction of paper energized scholasticism and prompted the rise of
universities in Salerno, Bologna, Padua, Paris, Montpellier, and Oxford.
And in the mid-1400s, just as Constantinople fell to the Turks and
churches were converted into mosques, the printing press unleashed a
torrent of insights, observations, astrological tables, philosophical
ponderings, religious arguments, political criticism, and thoughts about
the human body—its form, function, and malfunction—and when surgery
might work. The world’s first great printed medical textbook would be
lovingly produced in 1543 by a genius, age twenty-nine, and it would
change medicine, and the world, forever.