The History of the Printing Press under an X-Ray Microscope

Abstract

T he printing press has been called the greatest invention of the last thousand years. The credit is often given to the 15th century German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg. However, a Korean collection of Buddhist teachings, the Jikji Simchi Yojeol,was printed with a press 78 years before Gutenberg produced his first Bible. What are the similarities and differences in the methods employed for printing the Jikji and the Gutenberg Bible? As part of a collaborative research project, researchers are addressing this question using an x-ray probe at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. What they learn about the chemical composition of ancient Eastern and Western texts will provide insight into how knowledge sharing between cultures shaped the technological evolution of printing.