Elizabeth Eisenstein - The Unacknowledged Revolution

The Unacknowledged Revolution

Eisenstein's book The Printing Press as an Agent of Change lays out her thoughts on the "Unacknowledged Revolution," her name for the revolution that occurred after the invention of print. Print media allowed the general public to have access to books and knowledge that had not been available to them before; this led to the growth of public knowledge and individual thought. The ability to formulate thought on one's own thoughts became reality with the popularity of the printing press. Print also "standardized and preserved knowledge which had been much more fluid in the age of oral manuscript circulation" (Briggs & Burke(2002); A Social History of the Media). Eisenstein recognizes this period of time to be very important in the development of mankind; however, she feels that it is often overlooked, thus, the 'unacknowledged revolution'.