THE SPREAD OF IDEAS

THEN AND NOW

Communication today

HOW EASY IS IT TO SPREAD INFORMATION IN

TODAYS WORLD?

LIST ALL THE WAYS WE CAN SHARE INFORMATION

WITH OTHERS.

THE SPREAD OF IDEAS DURING THE

RENAISSANCE- GATHERING GREAT MINDS
UNIVERSITIES AND
LIBRARIES

TRAVELING
CELEBRITIES

ROYAL COURTS

WEALTHY PATRONS FOUNDED

LIBRARIES WHICH CONTAINED
BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, AND
DOCUMENTS .

FAMOUS RENAISSANCE
SCIENTISTS, ARTISTS, AND
THINKERS WERE THE
ROCKSTARS OF THEIR DAY.

KINGS AND QUEENS WERE

EAGER TO ATTRACT SCHOLARS
AND WRITERS TO THEIR
COURTS.

EARLY HUMANISTS OFTEN

TAUGHT AT ITALIAN
UNIVERSITIES

THEY SHARED IDEAS THROUGH

DISCUSSIONS AND THROUGH
THEIR WRITINGS

THEIR PRESENCE WAS OFTEN

DEMANDED IN COURTS AND
UNIVERSITIES ALL OVER
EUROPE.

KINGS WOULD OFTEN SET UP

CENTRES OF LEARNING AND
COLLECT MANUSCRIPTS,
PAINTINGS, AND SCULPTURES.

THEY OFTEN TRAINED OTHER

SCHOLARS OR ARTISTS

THEY WOULD THEN INVITE

CELEBRITIES TO COME LECTURE
IN THEIR COURTS FOR A FEE.

STUDENTS WOULD ATTEND

LECTURES AND THEN GO BACK
TO THEIR OWN CITIES AND
SHARE WHAT THEY LEARNED.

THE PRINTING PRESS: A

NEW TECHNOLOGY

MOST PEOPLE LIVING IN EUROPE DURING THE

BEGINNING OF THE RENAISSANCE WERE ILLITERATE.
ONLY THE MOST EDUCATED PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
COULD READ AND WRITE IN LATIN, THE LANGUAGE
OF SCHOLARS AND THE CHURCH.

UNLESS YOU WERE VERY WEALTHY, YOU WOULD

NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD A BOOK.

ILLITERACY AND COST OF BOOKS MADE SHARING

IDEAS AND INFORMATION WITH OTHERS VERY
DIFFICULT.

IN 1450 A GERMAN NAMED JOHANNES GUTERBERG

DEVELOPED A PRINTING PRESS THAT ALLOWED
BOOKS TO BE PRODUCED QUICKLY AND CHEAPLY.

USING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY, PRINTERS COULD

PRODUCE THOUSANDS OF BOOKS IN THE TIME IT
HAD TAKEN TO MAKE ONE SINGLE COPY.

THEY WERE ALSO PRINTED ON PAPER, WHICH WAS

LESS EXPENSIVE THAN PARCHMENT.

THE SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE AND

INFORMATION

BY 1500, THERE WERE MORE THAN SIX MILLION BOOKS IN PRINT IN EUROPE!
NOW THAT BOOKS WERE CHEAPER AND MORE ACCESSIBLE, MIDDLE CLASS
PEOPLE BEGAN TO READ, DISCUSS, AND EVENTUALLY WRITE ABOUT THE
NEW IDEAS OF THEIR TIME.
INSTEAD OF PRINTING BOOKS ONLY IN LATIN, MORE BOOKS, INCLUDING
TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE, WERE PRINTED IN THE VERNACULAR- THE
LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE SPOKE IN THAT AREA.
THINKERS MADE MONEY FROM THE BOOKS THEY WROTE. THIS GAVE THEM
THE FREEDOM TO TRAVEL TO MANY CITIES AND UNIVERSITIES SPREADING
THEIR IDEAS.

INTERNET- TODAYS PRINTING

PRESS

ION IS THE FIRST TO GROW UP USING COMPUTERS AND THE

CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE SHARED IDEAS AND GATHERED

UST LIKE THE PRINTING PRESS DID DURING THE RENAISSANCE.

PH, EXPLAIN HOW COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY CAN BE A

STRUMENT FOR CHANGE.