25 Most Significant Inventions In Human History

The Gutenberg printing press: This was the most significant tool that allowed the dissemination of knowledge by increasing the availability of literature to the common folk. It led to the widespread literacy of laypeople, which eventually led to an explosion in every other discipline, from mathematics to economics, to theater.

Once it became possible for the everyday person to learn to read and to understand the knowledge that was around them, more people could become thinkers, scientists, and become experts in things that couldn’t be achieved without having access to some ancient knowledge.

Before this, in Europe, only monks and the Christian clergy possessed literacy skills, which allowed them to preserve knowledge lost following the fall of the Roman Empire. However, when the Gutenberg printing press allowed for the widespread distribution of literary works, understanding, and more importantly critical thinking, was able to flourish like never before. The Gutenberg printing press allowed for the widespread availability of written works, first the Gutenberg Bible, and then many following works.

There’s a reason that the European Renaissance became so widespread: Gutenberg’s printing press, and all subsequent models, allowed for the rapid spread of ideas the likes of which had not been seen prior to that device’s creation.

None of the more advanced technological advances on this list could’ve been created, or even conceived, if humans hadn’t obtained the knowledge needed by reading books that were distributed to the common people through the printing press.