Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern Free Essays

string(132) " part the prints called the face, was easily broken off and smoothed before it was used for the printed page† \(Fontana 30\)\." There are many ideas and concepts that facilitated the transition from the Medieval Era to a more modern, Renaissance society, but it can be argued that Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press was the most important factor to this change in Europe. The creation of the press was no easy task for Gutenberg; he was faced with many obstacles. However, once created, the press benefited people around the world for centuries and continues to be a fundamental part of our society today. We will write a custom essay sample on Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern or any similar topic only for you Order Now Before the invention of the printing press, books were extremely expensive, limiting education to the very wealthy. Because only the upper class could afford to purchase books, education was a means of separating the aristocracy from the lower classes. It was nearly impossible for the less fortunate to move up in society since they could not educate themselves. The reason books were so pricey was due to the methods employed to create each page individually. For a scribe to copy an entire novel by hand would take much patience and many hours. A common method of producing copies was for one man to read the original word by word, and a group of scribes would write each word as the reader said them. â€Å"By this method,† describes John Fontana in his work Mankind’s Greatest Invention, â€Å"one manuscript served as the source of reproduction for many copies when the scribes finished writing the last of the reader’s orally presented words† (13). Not only was this time consuming, but the more copies that were made, the more errors were made. Eventually, a method of creating copies without such a high margin of error came about. People would hand carve blocks of wood with raised letters and cover the blocks with ink. Then they would place a sheet of paper on the block to make a copy. To make the process even more difficult, they had to carve the letters and words backwards so they would print correctly, and they had to make these letters look normal when reversed. Albert Kapr, in his book Johann Gutenberg: The Man and his Invention, describes how â€Å"a calligrapher had first to write out this text, which was traced as a mirror-image reversal on to a planed limewood plank and then cut out with a knife in such a way that the lettering was left as a raised surface† (21). This method is called xylography, and while it was an improvement in that it reduced mistakes, carving a block of wood for each page to be printed was even more time consuming than writing the words by hand, and books remained as expensive as ever. Johann Gensfleisch Gutenberg, a goldsmith from Mainz, Germany, wanted to change all this. His idea was to replace the wood blocks with separate letters made of metal. One would be able to move the letters around to make words and sentences, and then reuse them. â€Å"The key to this new method was not as is generally believed, the discovery of the value of movable type, for movable letters had been known and used for centuries,† explains Fontana. â€Å"It was the mechanism for making the types† (28). This type of printing press was, in fact, already being used in China, but the technology to create such a machine was yet to be discovered in Europe. In working to build this machine, Gutenberg was faced with obstacle after obstacle. Just when he would think he might have mastered it, he would encounter another problem to solve. â€Å"The invention of typography was not,† noted Theo DeVinne in his work The Invention of Printing, â€Å"the result of a happy thought or of a flash of inspiration. It was not born in a day . . . it was thought out and wrought out† (376). To begin with, he had two main concerns: finding a device that would keep the letters in place, and making a press that would print clearly. Gutenberg soon came up with a solution to the first of the two issues. He paid a carpenter for the use of his winepress, so as to have â€Å"a suitable bed for a page of metal letters to rest on,† and arranged the letters on one side of it (Fontana 22). He wanted to come up with a frame to hold the paper; then when one was ready to print, they could twist a screw to press the paper up against the letters. The letters were to be created by pouring melted metal into a mold. Then Gutenberg came across several more problems. The first was the question of how to make all of the letters exactly the same thickness so that when they were pressed against the paper, they would print evenly. Also, he needed a solution for putting narrow letters on narrow metal bases and wide letters on wide bases. Using the same base for all letters would not only be impractical in that it would waste space, it would also make the words look uneven, with different sized spaces between letters. Regardless of the width of the character, each metal piece had to be the same height so the lines would not be crooked. DeVinne made the point that â€Å"if the types of one character, as of the letter a, should be made the merest trifle larger or smaller than its fellows of the same font, all the types, when composed, will show the consequences of the defect† (52). Gutenberg came up with two brilliant ideas to solve the problems. In order to make all of the letters the same thickness, he made the mold the desired height and added extensions on the sides to catch any overflowing metal. That way he could make sure that they would not be too thick, and as long as he poured metal to the top, they would not be too thin. Once dried, â€Å"this extra piece at the bottom of the metal letters opposite to the part the prints called the face, was easily broken off and smoothed before it was used for the printed page† (Fontana 30). You read "Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern" in category "Papers" As for making the letters different widths, he had to make an adjustable mold. He first experimented using wood, and once perfected, he made one out of metal. He came up with a mold that consisted of two L-shaped pieces that could fit together, and slide back and forth to make the enclosed area larger or smaller. Here Gutenberg encountered further setbacks. The lead he had been using to make the letters was too soft-it was printing unevenly after just a few pages had been printed. Gutenberg solved the problem of making the typeface hard enough to resist pressure by mixing the lead with parts of tin and a substance that acted like antimony,† hardening the metal and preventing expansion or shrinkage while the metal dried (Fontana 30). It also took a lot of searching to find ink that was the right consistency to leave a thin layer on paper. Should it be too thin, it would spread through the paper, and should it be too thick, it would clump and appear uneven. Upon fixing these problems, Gutenberg had come up with his first working printing press. With it, he printed copies of the first, second, and third editions of the Donatus. However, few people would purchase the pages because many considered his invention immoral, as they believed hand-written script to be a sacred art. Also, there were still problems with the press. The type face varied too much-the lines would go from thin to thick and back to thin again, and the ink did not stick to paper well. DeVinne tells us that â€Å"judged by modern standards, the types are ungraceful; the text letters are too dense and black, and the capitals are of rude form, obscure, and too small for the text† (421). The press itself took a lot of strength, especially when making multiple copies. All of these parts needed improvement, so Gutenberg got to work. He created more defined molds and stronger metal letters, which allowed for thinner printed lines. In hopes of eventually printing the Bible, Gutenberg worked to create letters that would, when placed together, resemble the handwriting of scribes. It was a difficult task, but he managed to finalize pages of beautiful lettering, each having two columns. The only problem was that only thirty-six lines would fit on a page, and Gutenberg wanted to fit forty-two lines. Otherwise, the amount of pages to print the Bible would be much greater and more costly. â€Å"If he had been only an ordinary dreamer about great inventions,† believes DeVinne, â€Å"he would have abandoned an enterprise so hedged in with mechanical and financial difficulties† (416). It was around this time that Gutenberg met John Fust, who offered to help finance his project if they could form a partnership. Gutenberg agreed as he was greatly in need of a means of paying for new equipment to make a forty-two-page press. DeVinne reports that these â€Å"small types were unique; they were never used, so far as we know for any other work† (406). This was most likely Gutenberg’s greatest mistake, because when Fust did not get a quick return on his money, he sued Gutenberg for almost all of his equipment, including the new printing press. This was a set back from which Gutenberg never recovered, and though his invention greatly benefited many, he died a poor man. The printing press made a dramatic impact on European culture in many ways. One important way that it affected society was to bring about a higher level of individualism than had been before experienced. As Marshall McLuhan noted in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographical Man, â€Å"the portability of the book, much like that of easel-painting, added much to the new cult of individualism† (206). Because there was no longer the need to be a part of a University or monastery in order to have access to books and education, people began spending more and more time on their own, teaching themselves, and therefore, becoming more and more independent. The distribution of a highly increased number of books due to the invention of the press also facilitated individualistic ideas by giving more people the opportunity to read, forcing them to interpret information themselves. In an oral culture, one is taught by the verbal explanations of others, allowing little opportunity for personal interpretation or for discovering oneself through thought and analysis of material, as is possible in a written culture. â€Å"To the oral man the literal is inclusive, contains all possible meanings and levels,† and through the introspection demanded by this increase in reading, individualism soared (McLuhan 111). With this increase in individualism came much higher levels of education and literacy. McLuhan, in discussing the advantages the press gave to learning, said â€Å"this very natural inclination towards accessibility and portability went hand in hand with greatly increased reading speeds which were possible with uniform and repeatable type† (207). Because the printing press used the same mold for multiple copies of the same letter, it was much less difficult to read than when it was necessary to accustom oneself with each scribe’s handwriting with which one was encountered. The significant decrease in the price of books that occurred in conjunction with the printing press paved the way for the education and rise of a new middle class. â€Å"The book became a source of productive energy for a new breed of merchants and entrepreneurs,† and where before these people had been held back from penetrating the higher levels of society, they could now afford to educate themselves (Kapr 20). This education led to a cycle that allowed the middle class to make more money, which allowed them to purchase even more books and further educate themselves. While this new class of people did not have the social status of the aristocracy, Wyndham Lewis stated that â€Å"birth or training, in this age that has been called that of bastards and adventurers, never mattered less† (qtd. in McLuhan 119). Another important change that the invention of the printing press brought about was the new concept of mass production. Before the press, nobody had thought of the idea of creating something that could produce multiple copies of anything, so multiple copies of pages were just the first of endless possibilities. â€Å"Just as print was the first mass-produced thing, so it was the first uniform and repeatable commodity,† and the realization that exact duplicates could be made of products other than books was one that has been acted on for centuries to bring us mass-production as we know it today (McLuhan 125). Clearly Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press with movable type was a turning point in history from medieval to modern times. While its creation took many practice runs and a lot of trial-and-error, Gutenberg’s incredible patience and determination paid off and helped to build the new culture of the Renaissance. The press was not just a means of copying the written page, but a vehicle for the concept of individualism, the rise of education and the new middle class, and an introduction to mass production. How to cite Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern, Papers Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern Free Essays string(132) " part the prints called the face, was easily broken off and smoothed before it was used for the printed page† \(Fontana 30\)\." There are many ideas and concepts that facilitated the transition from the Medieval Era to a more modern, Renaissance society, but it can be argued that Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press was the most important factor to this change in Europe. The creation of the press was no easy task for Gutenberg; he was faced with many obstacles. However, once created, the press benefited people around the world for centuries and continues to be a fundamental part of our society today. We will write a custom essay sample on Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern or any similar topic only for you Order Now Before the invention of the printing press, books were extremely expensive, limiting education to the very wealthy. Because only the upper class could afford to purchase books, education was a means of separating the aristocracy from the lower classes. It was nearly impossible for the less fortunate to move up in society since they could not educate themselves. The reason books were so pricey was due to the methods employed to create each page individually. For a scribe to copy an entire novel by hand would take much patience and many hours. A common method of producing copies was for one man to read the original word by word, and a group of scribes would write each word as the reader said them. â€Å"By this method,† describes John Fontana in his work Mankind’s Greatest Invention, â€Å"one manuscript served as the source of reproduction for many copies when the scribes finished writing the last of the reader’s orally presented words† (13). Not only was this time consuming, but the more copies that were made, the more errors were made. Eventually, a method of creating copies without such a high margin of error came about. People would hand carve blocks of wood with raised letters and cover the blocks with ink. Then they would place a sheet of paper on the block to make a copy. To make the process even more difficult, they had to carve the letters and words backwards so they would print correctly, and they had to make these letters look normal when reversed. Albert Kapr, in his book Johann Gutenberg: The Man and his Invention, describes how â€Å"a calligrapher had first to write out this text, which was traced as a mirror-image reversal on to a planed limewood plank and then cut out with a knife in such a way that the lettering was left as a raised surface† (21). This method is called xylography, and while it was an improvement in that it reduced mistakes, carving a block of wood for each page to be printed was even more time consuming than writing the words by hand, and books remained as expensive as ever. Johann Gensfleisch Gutenberg, a goldsmith from Mainz, Germany, wanted to change all this. His idea was to replace the wood blocks with separate letters made of metal. One would be able to move the letters around to make words and sentences, and then reuse them. â€Å"The key to this new method was not as is generally believed, the discovery of the value of movable type, for movable letters had been known and used for centuries,† explains Fontana. â€Å"It was the mechanism for making the types† (28). This type of printing press was, in fact, already being used in China, but the technology to create such a machine was yet to be discovered in Europe. In working to build this machine, Gutenberg was faced with obstacle after obstacle. Just when he would think he might have mastered it, he would encounter another problem to solve. â€Å"The invention of typography was not,† noted Theo DeVinne in his work The Invention of Printing, â€Å"the result of a happy thought or of a flash of inspiration. It was not born in a day . . . it was thought out and wrought out† (376). To begin with, he had two main concerns: finding a device that would keep the letters in place, and making a press that would print clearly. Gutenberg soon came up with a solution to the first of the two issues. He paid a carpenter for the use of his winepress, so as to have â€Å"a suitable bed for a page of metal letters to rest on,† and arranged the letters on one side of it (Fontana 22). He wanted to come up with a frame to hold the paper; then when one was ready to print, they could twist a screw to press the paper up against the letters. The letters were to be created by pouring melted metal into a mold. Then Gutenberg came across several more problems. The first was the question of how to make all of the letters exactly the same thickness so that when they were pressed against the paper, they would print evenly. Also, he needed a solution for putting narrow letters on narrow metal bases and wide letters on wide bases. Using the same base for all letters would not only be impractical in that it would waste space, it would also make the words look uneven, with different sized spaces between letters. Regardless of the width of the character, each metal piece had to be the same height so the lines would not be crooked. DeVinne made the point that â€Å"if the types of one character, as of the letter a, should be made the merest trifle larger or smaller than its fellows of the same font, all the types, when composed, will show the consequences of the defect† (52). Gutenberg came up with two brilliant ideas to solve the problems. In order to make all of the letters the same thickness, he made the mold the desired height and added extensions on the sides to catch any overflowing metal. That way he could make sure that they would not be too thick, and as long as he poured metal to the top, they would not be too thin. Once dried, â€Å"this extra piece at the bottom of the metal letters opposite to the part the prints called the face, was easily broken off and smoothed before it was used for the printed page† (Fontana 30). You read "Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern" in category "Papers" As for making the letters different widths, he had to make an adjustable mold. He first experimented using wood, and once perfected, he made one out of metal. He came up with a mold that consisted of two L-shaped pieces that could fit together, and slide back and forth to make the enclosed area larger or smaller. Here Gutenberg encountered further setbacks. The lead he had been using to make the letters was too soft-it was printing unevenly after just a few pages had been printed. Gutenberg solved the problem of making the typeface hard enough to resist pressure by mixing the lead with parts of tin and a substance that acted like antimony,† hardening the metal and preventing expansion or shrinkage while the metal dried (Fontana 30). It also took a lot of searching to find ink that was the right consistency to leave a thin layer on paper. Should it be too thin, it would spread through the paper, and should it be too thick, it would clump and appear uneven. Upon fixing these problems, Gutenberg had come up with his first working printing press. With it, he printed copies of the first, second, and third editions of the Donatus. However, few people would purchase the pages because many considered his invention immoral, as they believed hand-written script to be a sacred art. Also, there were still problems with the press. The type face varied too much-the lines would go from thin to thick and back to thin again, and the ink did not stick to paper well. DeVinne tells us that â€Å"judged by modern standards, the types are ungraceful; the text letters are too dense and black, and the capitals are of rude form, obscure, and too small for the text† (421). The press itself took a lot of strength, especially when making multiple copies. All of these parts needed improvement, so Gutenberg got to work. He created more defined molds and stronger metal letters, which allowed for thinner printed lines. In hopes of eventually printing the Bible, Gutenberg worked to create letters that would, when placed together, resemble the handwriting of scribes. It was a difficult task, but he managed to finalize pages of beautiful lettering, each having two columns. The only problem was that only thirty-six lines would fit on a page, and Gutenberg wanted to fit forty-two lines. Otherwise, the amount of pages to print the Bible would be much greater and more costly. â€Å"If he had been only an ordinary dreamer about great inventions,† believes DeVinne, â€Å"he would have abandoned an enterprise so hedged in with mechanical and financial difficulties† (416). It was around this time that Gutenberg met John Fust, who offered to help finance his project if they could form a partnership. Gutenberg agreed as he was greatly in need of a means of paying for new equipment to make a forty-two-page press. DeVinne reports that these â€Å"small types were unique; they were never used, so far as we know for any other work† (406). This was most likely Gutenberg’s greatest mistake, because when Fust did not get a quick return on his money, he sued Gutenberg for almost all of his equipment, including the new printing press. This was a set back from which Gutenberg never recovered, and though his invention greatly benefited many, he died a poor man. The printing press made a dramatic impact on European culture in many ways. One important way that it affected society was to bring about a higher level of individualism than had been before experienced. As Marshall McLuhan noted in his book The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographical Man, â€Å"the portability of the book, much like that of easel-painting, added much to the new cult of individualism† (206). Because there was no longer the need to be a part of a University or monastery in order to have access to books and education, people began spending more and more time on their own, teaching themselves, and therefore, becoming more and more independent. The distribution of a highly increased number of books due to the invention of the press also facilitated individualistic ideas by giving more people the opportunity to read, forcing them to interpret information themselves. In an oral culture, one is taught by the verbal explanations of others, allowing little opportunity for personal interpretation or for discovering oneself through thought and analysis of material, as is possible in a written culture. â€Å"To the oral man the literal is inclusive, contains all possible meanings and levels,† and through the introspection demanded by this increase in reading, individualism soared (McLuhan 111). With this increase in individualism came much higher levels of education and literacy. McLuhan, in discussing the advantages the press gave to learning, said â€Å"this very natural inclination towards accessibility and portability went hand in hand with greatly increased reading speeds which were possible with uniform and repeatable type† (207). Because the printing press used the same mold for multiple copies of the same letter, it was much less difficult to read than when it was necessary to accustom oneself with each scribe’s handwriting with which one was encountered. The significant decrease in the price of books that occurred in conjunction with the printing press paved the way for the education and rise of a new middle class. â€Å"The book became a source of productive energy for a new breed of merchants and entrepreneurs,† and where before these people had been held back from penetrating the higher levels of society, they could now afford to educate themselves (Kapr 20). This education led to a cycle that allowed the middle class to make more money, which allowed them to purchase even more books and further educate themselves. While this new class of people did not have the social status of the aristocracy, Wyndham Lewis stated that â€Å"birth or training, in this age that has been called that of bastards and adventurers, never mattered less† (qtd. in McLuhan 119). Another important change that the invention of the printing press brought about was the new concept of mass production. Before the press, nobody had thought of the idea of creating something that could produce multiple copies of anything, so multiple copies of pages were just the first of endless possibilities. â€Å"Just as print was the first mass-produced thing, so it was the first uniform and repeatable commodity,† and the realization that exact duplicates could be made of products other than books was one that has been acted on for centuries to bring us mass-production as we know it today (McLuhan 125). Clearly Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press with movable type was a turning point in history from medieval to modern times. While its creation took many practice runs and a lot of trial-and-error, Gutenberg’s incredible patience and determination paid off and helped to build the new culture of the Renaissance. The press was not just a means of copying the written page, but a vehicle for the concept of individualism, the rise of education and the new middle class, and an introduction to mass production. How to cite Gutenberg’s Press and the Transition from Medieval to Modern, Papers

Small Businesses Go Online Essay Sample free essay sample

The Internet is fast going known non merely as the information gateway. but besides the new platform for different sorts of concerns. These concerns advertise their goods and services in changing ways and most of the immense 1s really have their ain web sites. They’ve besides outdone themselves in footings of services because people don’t have to travel out of their houses merely to pay measures or store for things. The little concerns don’t truly have to worry because it is possible for them to travel online besides without holding to pass so. Suzanne Morrison ( 2001-2007 ) offers some advice on this. She says that when 1 has their concern thought and their merchandises. the following measure is for them to analyse their competition. Morrison uses a plan for this called Wordtracker. which analyzes the keyword phrases that are frequently used in hunt engines. With that. one can analyse the top web sites those keyword phrases produce and one can be after consequently. We will write a custom essay sample on Small Businesses Go Online Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then. one should analyse their merchandises. excessively. Sample inquiries one should be able to reply are: Are these merchandises in demand right now? Are these what the clients need? Before one makes a determination. one should calculate what their net income border will be and how much money one would gain based on the estimated traffic Wordtracker has generated. The following measure is for one to take a sphere name. Many web sites sell sphere names for less than $ 10 a twelvemonth. It would be better if one would take a sphere name that has some of the popular keywords. Remember that short sphere names are really easy to retrieve. After this measure. it’s clip to take a web hosting company. There are many of these and some even offer their services for free. Avoid these free services because as Morrison says. this looks unprofessional. Besides. they are bound to set ads on your website anyway. which wouldn’t truly be that nice since you’re traveling to be seting your ain on it. Now. when sing web hosting companies. be certain to look into the disc infinite and bandwidth allowances the company provides. These should be big plenty for you. Besides. see their client support services. their dependability in footings of expected down clip and if it’s easy for you to upload files. No demand to worry since there are bes ides websites that compare the hosting bundles of different companies. Last. one has to do and market the concern web site. Depending on the proprietor. he may do the web site himself or engage person. If he decides to do it himself. he doesn’t have to worry if he doesn’t have adequate cognition of hypertext markup language since there are plans like Dreamweaver and FrontPage which could assist him do it. In doing a web site. it should look clean. unlittered. looks professional and easy to voyage. One can inquire person else to look into the web site to proofread everything in it before establishing it online. After the creative activity of the web site. one should get down marketing it via solo or classified ads. articles. or pay per chink ( PPC ) advertisement such as Google Adwords and Overture. Puting a concern online is no easy undertaking. It takes forbearance. doggedness and creativeness to do a web site that would do people maintain coming back. As last words. Morrison adds that with research and doggedness. one will acquire their preferable consequences. Mentions Morrison. Suzanne ( 2001-2007 ) . Seven Stairss to a Money Making Website. Retrieved 27 June 2007. from hypertext transfer protocol: //bucarotechelp. com/design/general/95062202. asp and hypertext transfer protocol: //bucarotechelp. com/design/general/95062202. asp? x=49 A ; y=7 A ; page=2

An Epic Hero free essay sample

I know that there are many Epic Heroes in our world, and there are a few things that a person needs to qualify as an Epic Hero. These things are substantial courage, overwhelming strength, and the desire/drive for immortality. I know a lot of examples of Epic Heroes like Hercules and Perseus, but I’m going to try to write about someone that most people can kind of relate to. I’m going to use Tally Youngblood from Scott Westerfeld’s novel, â€Å"Pretties†, as an example. Throughout the story Tally is strong. Even when she doesn’t seem to feel like it, she is dealing with all of the choices that she has to make. One would be the pendant that she has to activate for Special Circumstances. Or whether or not to tell David or Shay about the pendant, or about meeting with the Specials and Dr. Cable. I think she’s at her strongest point when she has to make the journey to the Smoke. We will write a custom essay sample on An Epic Hero or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because she has to eat the same thing for like three weeks, plus she gets awakened by a burning forest all around her. I also noticed that Tally is very courageous throughout the book. First of all, she has the courage to stand up to the Specials and Dr. Cable when they come to get her from the Smoke. Second of all, she decided to go on the three week trek to the Smoke with nothing but some obscure notes to tell her how to get there. And third, she must have had a huge amount of courage to just waltz into Special Circumstances and break her friends out like she was supposed to. I don’t really think that Tally wants to be remembered and talked about forever about what she did during the novel, but I’m sure that anyone would want to be remembered forever. One thing that would qualify her for ‘immortality’ would be the pendant the Specials gave her. I mean, that would just be cool to talk with people about. Not to mention the insane sojourn she went on to get to the Smoke. Including huge gaps to jump across, freezing water, and a forest of burning white tiger orchids. Some people might lock horns over whether Tally is an Epic Hero. Some reasons might be that, Tally is weak in some situations, like when Shay leaves to the Smoke. Or some instances when she shows a lot of cowardice, like when she’s being interrogated by Dr.

Universal History and the Possibility of a Utopia.

Universal History and the Possibility of a Utopia. Free Online Research Papers To question the benefits of a fundamental approach to the study of history, is to essentially pose a question of insight and certainty. It is not merely about a holistic view, but more about if a holistic view is even possible within history. Is it possible to encapsulate the whole of eternity into a defining moment and still remain tangibly accurate? Is the macro and micro interrelated and interchangeable? And most of all, what kind of answers does a big approach provide that are beneficial? Would it, possibly, solve the nature of the human phenomenon? Can the way history is viewed contribute towards a Utopian world? Science, the pioneer of the empirical method, is at its core very fundamental; for millennia it searches for a total explanation for the question of why and how. History too, in order to hold any sense of credibility, must adapt a scientific process, so it is inevitable that the fundamental nature of defining truths has rubbed off on the study of history. The search for full illumination, the unveiling of a masterful design, is the core propellant in our documentation of history. The hope remains that in revealing the mystery of the human nature through a historical view, some reconciliation would be possible for the current world paradigm. The hope remains that a Utopian society can be resolved. One could almost say that all detailed closed-space studies of history are subconsciously constructed as a piece of a bigger puzzle. For science itself is a manner of viewing history, branched into separate yet connected approaches. In fair consideration, the core criticism for a total view of history is that it would be a generalisation that would be contradicted by certain small-scale studies. Where there are so many historical contradictions and paradoxes, a full view is implausible. Yet the argument stands that for the true historian, there are no contradictions, only undiscovered patterns. That the true historian is more than a simple documenter of events, but also a sociologist. A study of cause and effect is a necessary proponent of historical documentation, so it is understandable that sociology and history work hand in hand. David Christian, for instance, is insistent that history is not merely documentation, but that it also holds a message. Weather the message is that humanity is ultimately violent or peaceful is the cause for discovery. This is perhaps the primary intent of a big approach to the study. Seeing as the past is thought to be a definition of forming who we are and where we stand today, it was unavoidable that some underlying meaning is not only sought, but also, necessary. It is an issue of contribution to one’s identity. If the history of a town contributes towards their personal identity, it is only rationally intrinsic to formulate a historical world identity. The opposing argument has been that it is naà ¯ve to think that a positive historical identity would have any effect upon the individual, and what is worse, that history seems to present a negative human identity. So, inevitably this becomes an issue of unified vs. separatist. Collective vs. segregated. If history holds any markedly poignant message it is that differences are the primary cause of conflict. Unification has always been the resolution. This intensifies the responsibility of the historian to think in unified terms. Perhaps the aim of seeing the big picture is to cause a revolution in the ways in which history is viewed and taught. Which leaves the question, would it help improve anything? This is the debate that has perhaps captured historians at this period in time. The conclusion of which, if it transpires, will hold immense changes. With the technological freedom of communication, the internationalist view has sprung the world with a reckoning force. Ideas of a collective human identity have become an imminent reality. A shift in paradigm has taken place following the ability of one person to speak to another across the world. As such, historians are now being affected by the paradigm-shift, and it is arguably the cause for emphasis on the big picture. It seems that a holistic view would in itself be the actual cause for improvement. At this point, perhaps it is useful to substantiate how much a government and society is affected by history. On the power and benefit of unification. The nature of the debate calls for an embarkation into the human psyche. The efficiency of the map that historians create determines the effectiveness of the journey. Just as a bad road-map would detrimentally influence the safe passage of traffic, so too does mutant ideas of history affect the sanctity of a nation. A world-view of history is akin to seeing the forest for the trees. If one but looks, for instance, at the example provided by the period of the silk roads, where an influential interchange of commodity as well as ideas took place, it is also noticed that political fragmentation severely impacted the exchange of resources. The first evidence to negate a Utopian view to be a naà ¯ve one is the nature of the universe itself: ever changing, expanding, and as some theorise, due to begin imploding. With ideas such as these, the implication is that societies also are ever changing: moving from disruption into unity, then, perhaps back to conflict. Ironically, history as thus far documented all too keenly reveals that this change is the only overwhelming constant. From galaxies to geological cycles to the birth and death of an organism. Even societies transferring from barbarianism into a peaceful nation, such as the Tibetans. Or the Indus Valley civilization once reputed to be rich in their innocuous wisdom now amounting to a corrupted and scavenging race in comparison to their past. The idea of random change has infiltrated much of the sciences and modes of thought – so much as to entertain the notion of the primordial soup: the creation of life is often philosophically and scientifically indulged as an accident. This is a colossal contradiction for a life-form whose very intelligence relies on and is defined by pattern recognition. It is irrational to assume that wherefore there are patterns that dictate every other action, the very birth of this order would itself be an accident. Thankfully, with the emergence of quantum physics formed a powerful advocator of inert order within the big picture. And most of modern biology is concerned with discovering the hitherto undiscovered underlying patterns. What remains profoundly captivating here is that history is not merely a study of economic or social change or of conquest and globalisation, but markedly a study of ideas being born and destroyed. With the industrial revolution arrived an idea now known as modernism – which lead to which, is still debatable. Perhaps it was a slow building idea that gave fruition to what we now call modernism, and the idea allowed for the discovery of machinery. The point, however, is that at the turn of the revolution occurred an expotential leap in population, the cause of which continues to baffle historians. Ecological research regarding population growth has come to conclusions that the level of population as well as species is directly proportionate to availability of habitat space. That after an equilibrium number is established, this number will remain constant irrespective of the introduction of new species or the extinction of pre-existing ones. Which leads one to ponder what form of new space was created by the industrial revolution to affect the equilibrium so sporadically. This form of interlinking has proven itself empirically sound. It is an exchanging of ideas, of seeing the big picture. The question must be asked, what is history for? Upon what motive does one procure a detail of their past? And the obvious answer is, to provide a meaningful system of existence – to substantiate that there is most definitely an evolution and a purpose that is transpiring. In this case, it is interesting that the failure of the industrial revolution to provide a Utopia, that the birth of post-modernism, coincides with the period in time when we are finally ready to see history as a whole. Kicking and screaming perhaps, but we are at a point where we are looking at the big-bang almost juxtaposing it with the industrial revolution, in order to see a principal truth. Besides, universal history has always been synonymous with mythology – it simply wasn’t an aspect of science, until now. Notwithstanding that the idea of world history arose alongside cosmology and evolutionary biology, perhaps it is the debate of revolution vs. evolution that has prompted us to consider the nature of a Utopia. Because after all, what are we evolving towards? Speaking of the interrelation of the macro and the micro, the first disapproval stems along the lines of how there is far too much variation on local levels that get omitted when deriving a total outlook. The Agrean Era stands as a good example of this, but paradoxically the evidence that lead to current conclusions about that era were scattered on different globes, and it was collaborated in order to get a full picture. Besides, the core of ecology and biology demonstrates that all conflict and flourishing of species is strictly resources related. Psychology is strongly influenced by Abraham Maslow’s explanation that humans are driven by needs and are not inherently evil. Physics also agrees by procuring its second law of thermodynamics. Entropy. It is the quest for resources, the abundance or lack of them, that is the cause of equilibrium, conflict or dissemination. History also seems to have reached this conclusion. This would not have been possible to see if one did not st and back to look. To understand that this is an issue of resources holds several layers of meaning for historians such as David Christian who contemplate the possibility of a Utopian society. The industrial revolution took place because the introduction of machinery placed the peasants in severe danger of losing their long held resources. And though historians have looked at history quite frequently through the lens of consumption and economic decisions, it would seem they were not too far off the mark. Except to say, the pessimism that has entranced several historians comes from their conclusion that there is no true abundance of resources, and that they are depleted time and time again. This, however, should not fail to provoke the historian to shift their angle onto the opposite side of how consumption is viewed and consider anew. Though the rise of inequality is directly linked to economic differences, what is synonymous is the possibility of resolving these differences. The big picture makes it abundantly clear that we are not inherently a greedy species. As much as standing back to view a forest reveals the easiest path through it, so too do we begin to ask the right questions in historical study when interchanging the micro and the macro. The big picture in itself will not provide all the answers, as much as the localized picture, by itself, would be fragmented. One should have respect both for the details as well as the broad strokes. When the two are juxtaposed, an insightful clarity is gained. In this case, the historian begins to ask, what sort of situations have lead to the resolving of differences? He or she begins to explore this avenue. Since he is the chooser of the lens through which he views history, this very choice is a prominent responsibility. And through discovering the several situations that resolve differences, he begins to uncover a fundamental pattern. The very discovery of this pattern will bear its effects on the identity of the society. This, it seems, is David Christian’s purpose in enthusiastically opting for the importance of world history. Fundamental patterns are proliferate. Take phi for instance: the underlying geometry encountered frequently throughout biology and even in the construction of galaxies. DNA is another example. Agriculture arose in numerous places seemingly independently. Everything affects everything else. The environment is dynamic, and at face-value there seems to be no order, yet continuous exploration has eventually lead to a core formula. Science would have succumbed were this not the case. The final question, then, is that given the disparity between developed and undeveloped countries, how can a reconciliation be initiated? Historians have on the most part concluded that if anything can be seen from ethno-archeology, it is that people do not always act to better adapt to their environment or to cooperate. On the other hand, a sense of abundance was created by tribes and societies of the past who made the act of sharing and gift-giving an essential part of their lifestyle. There is as much evidence that shows humanity’s compassionate awareness for the environment as there is of environmental degradation. These forms of mixed-messages make it easy to resort to resignation. Historians have a long-standing favour for small-scale investigations because they believe the human phenomenon is only revealed in the details, so they consider vast generalizations to be unsophisticated. On afterthought, this is the truly naà ¯ve view, for their choice of scale is still biased by that which they choose to focus upon. Some facets are usually underplayed, and other aspects often overemphasised. The nature of falsification affects both small-scales and larger scales equally, and it is often the case that the errors in the conclusions become obvious when you cease to be biased towards a choice of scale. It is proven time and time again, that bias is indeed the enemy of clarity. How one would reconcile the bias of nations with opposing interests depends entirely on the map of reality that rules humanity. It is inevitably an exploration of balance and imbalance. It is an issue of contingency. For instance, seeing as at the time of the industrial revolution, Asia also contained the technology to effect the discovery of machinery, why did they fail to do it? Much like sedentism and over-population lead to agriculture, one can logically allude that there was no necessity presented to create the situation for such a discovery. In the same context, it is the necessity now that would lead to a resolution. Yet every positive improvement has had its detriment. Bigger populations have included more diseases. With modernity came the clearing away of peasants. The signs so far indicate a cycle of reciprocity leading to entropy. A recharging followed by a diffusion. Knowing this, it seems unfathomable that there can be co-existence without aggressive enforcement of some kind or other. But certainly, a Utopian world of abundant resources and peaceful co-existence is possible. It has eventuated many times within history, though as spectacularly short-lasting as it is glorious. In our current scenario also a sense of progress is witnessed. And when we hold the totality of history within our scope, from the creation of the universe until now, we witness nothing but abundance. And the thought occurs, if the recurring element that is necessary for peaceful co-existence is the quantity of resources, we are surely within a Utopia. Perhaps recognition is all that is necessary. As much as the master who submits to the servant becomes autocratic, such would be the effect of the environment upon the mind. And Science, in false hypothesis, assumes and continues to experiment with such an illusiory conditioning. Drawing dangerous conclusions at that, expressing with firm and obnoxious regard that we are but slaves to our environment. Reactionary instruments. The objective approach would be the willingness to expose the nature of this oppression, or at the very least, to test the potential of the mind in manifesting its will. In this light, one derives definite principles on the spirit of man, as well as a pronounced disclosure on the character of the individual within a Utopian society. Abraham Maslows purport on the Self-Actualised person is a remarkable example. Self-Actualisation is synonymous with Utopia. At this point, it is important to delve to the crux of the matter it is impossible to have a Utopia without the recognition of Spirit. Of the mystery of peak experiences, for lack of a better term. Ultimately, Utopia is an idea, therefore this is entirely an issue of the human psyche. The abundance of resources, or the subjection to entropy, is wholly a mindstate. This is a natural course of reasoning, a substantiate hypothesis that is empirically verifiable: the mind creates the matter. If the mind is a closed-space, then your thoughts and your personal reality are subject to entropy. So, your mind has to be an open-space exuberant, generous, inclusive and expansive. Thats the difference between heaven and hell. Unity in diversity and creative abundance are the flairs of a Utopian society. This mentality needs foremost to be individually established and this would effectually, naturally, translate into society and government. The revo lution is within. Research Papers on Universal History and the Possibility of a Utopia.Effects of Television Violence on ChildrenThe Project Managment Office SystemComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoWhere Wild and West MeetInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesThree Concepts of PsychodynamicRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andOpen Architechture a white paperIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBringing Democracy to Africa

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Leadership in Nursing - Essay Example In relation to this essay, leadership has great influence in the field of nursing (Malloch 2013). Leadership in nursing remains unquestionable. It involves critical thinking, advocacy, and all that takes place in nursing practice. It plays a central role in lives of nurses affecting the entire health care organizations. Furthermore, nursing leaders expect credibility, courageousness, and inspiration in innovation and increasing nursing practices (Sullivan 2013). Nursing leadership therefore, is about being competent and engage practices of nurses to provide better care around the legal scope and boundaries of their ethics (Malloch 2013). In addition, leadership in nursing entails innovation and visionary administration from junior to senior nurse officials. Thus, these leaders should understand themselves to help nurses offer services safely, timely and easily to patients. From above arguments, leadership has both positive and negative impacts in nursing. Just to mention but a few, some of the positive impacts include provision of healthful work environment for nurses. There is also development of opportunities due to good leadership. Moreover, leadership in nursing tends to promote good practice environment and safe health facilities (Rigolosi 2013). Although nurses may tend to make judgments of their own to deliver patient’s care, they always operate within a given team framework of a hospital. Leadership that is well developed encourages nurses to prove quality care which enhances outcomes for patients Nursing leaders can also guide conversation for best interest in case there is rise in different opinions. Moreover, leadership provides integration opportunities like skills, which ensure that nursing remains responsive to individual’s requirements on daily basis. In spite of many advantages, leadership also has negative impacts in nursing. Some of which include; nurse

Impacts Of The World Wide Web Media Essay

Impacts Of The World Wide Web Media Essay Commonly known as WWW, the World Wide Web, as the name suggests, is a massive wireless interlinked connection that is supported by a series of URL links, and which has made the world to become a global village as the common adage goes. This is because it has come with such a great and felt impact that has revolutionalized communication, business, travel, networking, not forgetting socializing. Introduction into the WWW technology began way back in centuries gone, but the impacts, advantages and disadvantages that came with it are now greatly felt in this day and age of the twenty first century. WWW is commonly referred to as online, wireless communication, or as a majority of people would say- the internet. However, it is important to note that there is a big difference between internet and WWW. While internet is a large system of interconnected computer networks linked by the Protocol Suite and is what supports the use of World Wide Web, the WWW is a dependent factor that relies on the availability of internet to transmit information (James and Cailliau 2000 p. 27). Some of the impacts that World Wide Web has had so far especially in communication include speeding up of instant messaging, facilitation of internet forums, social networking online, blogging, online shopping and e-business has also been boosted in terms of marketing and advertisements. Specifically, on the study of communications, the World Wide Web has played a significant role in creating a channel in which people can do online research, get reviews on what the technology users have to say about the innovation and establish any existing loopholes in online communication and how they can be bridged. The World Wide Web provides information that creators and innovators of communication channels can make use of in the quest to provide cheap, effective, reliable and state-of-the-art gadgets for communication purposes. One of the most world-wide felt impacts of WWW on communication is rapid instant communication that affects almost every other aspect of life be it social, economic, pol itical or educational. Rapid instant communication implies that communication is no longer one way. It is no longer necessary to wait for days on end for a reply on some issue from a receiver of your message, but on the other hand, communication between sender and receiver of the message has changed from being receiver oriented to both receiver and sender oriented. How is this possible? This question shall form the basis of the study and feedback projected in this paper (Wendy, 2010 p.46). Rapid instant communication According to Samuel in his book Clarifying McLuhan: an assessment of process and product, rapid instant communication implies a one-on-one setting in sending and receiving of messages. In other words, it refers to a situation whereby communicators no longer have to wait for a long period of time in order for their message to be replied to by the receiver of the message. This therefore means that a person in one continent can easily communicate with another in a totally different continent as though they were communicating face to face. This has been made possible by services like chat, face book and emailing. Such connections make it possible for people the world over to relate and form forums in which they can even hold discussions on diversified issues which are happening way far away from where they are located. With use of facilities like the web camera, it is even possible to see someone with whom you are communicating on your computer while they are on the other side of the wor ld (Arthur, 1995 p. 28). This kind of communication is what has rapidly converted the world into a small village whereas in years gone such was just a dream for many innovators. There is now improved rapid communication in various sectors and this is supported by an old theory proposed by one Marshall McLuhan. His theory, titled Technological determinism, put forth that the changes that occur in the ways in which human beings communicate go a long way in determining the course our existence takes. The proponent of the theory feels that culture is highly dependent on the way in which we are able to communicate as human beings. This in other words is to say that innovations in communication cause a cultural drift. Secondly, changes in communication methods and modes shape human life. Media, as the greatest channel of communication, is considered as anything that affects human ability to communicate (Samuel and McLuhan 1967 p. 37). Consequently, it goes without saying that innovations that affect media as a channel of communication also affect human culture and communication. He looks at the transformation of communication from mere word of mouth, to literate age that could read and write to print media and eventually to the electronic age where society is at now. Today, people tend to believe printed information or that which they can collect from the web pages, more than they believe in information passed through the word of mouth. The theory also proposes that for any information to be accepted or rejected, it must undergo a series of stages which are awareness creation, persuasion or evaluation, decision making on whether to accept the information and lastly confirmation. These processes take a shorter time depending on the means of communication that are being used, meaning that word of mouth communication would take a relatively longer period to pass through all these stages than information posted through the web pages. This goes on to explain what happens to ideas suggested to one community from another, and how their evaluation and final acceptance or rejection ends up shaping the culture, values and beliefs of the recipient community. According to McLuhan, individuality has been removed from culture and instead, what matters today to society is the method of communication that is deemed important for communication as that will be what society will flow with (Arthur, 1995 p.34). Impact of World Wide Web on Businesses As explained above, the greatest impact of WWW is the speeding up of communication. How then does this form of communication impart of businesses? The most important thing about WWW is that it has enabled businesses and organizations to establish a presence. Businesses that want to explore great heights and to establish themselves the world over can only ignore the importance of the World Wide Web at their own peril. Creation of websites in which firms can market themselves is dependent on the WWW linkage. With the creation of a website, a company can rest assured that its services and functions can easily be read about any time of day seven days a week. Another impact is that the World Wide Web has made it possible for organizations working in the same line of industry to network, form partnerships and learn from each other all through the web (Stanley and Dennis 2008 p.37). This is also true for netting of potential clients, suppliers, donors and other stakeholders. Use of the World Wide Web has become a very easy way of passing business cards and maintaining contacts with clients. Needless to say, a website can be used as an additional source of income. This is possible by making your website an online sales point in the sense that visitors to the website can order and purchase your services online and pay through their credit cards without necessarily visiting your stores physically ( Stevenson, 1995 p.54). One more result that can be associated with instant communication as a result of the World Wide Web is the fact that it I now possible to have employees placed outside the office area and still have business going on as usual. This is because through the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s website, information can be passed to and from the employees consistently and from anywhere (Stanley and Dennis 2008 p. 89) Impact of World Wide Web on Social Networking It is not a new thing for many people that with social networking websites and electronic mail communication websites like twitter and yahoo mail respectively have played a great role in bring people together in terms of spontaneous and rapid communication. It is possible to chat with friends online and even date with the intentions of getting married, all by logging into some special websites that offer such services. On this social networking websites ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not only about making friends but also about keeping in touch with various other happenings around the world. One can get the latest news, download the latest music and movies and younger people and children can play online games or download them. In addition to socializing, it has now become very possible to get political views and stay informed on the most current news around the world, all by staying connected to the relevant websites. For example, a person in America is now very able to track letà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢ „ ¢s say for example the election results of a country in Asia as it happens, all of which ahs been made possible by the World Wide Web (Arthur, 1995 p. 43). Today, people cannot imagine themselves without logging into websites to check the latest mails, breaking news, weather reports and even to shop for holidays online, all because of the WWW technology. The Web cannot be traced, it cannot be pinpointed, all because it is growing by the day. Its growth and expansion is a gradual process that is ongoing, and which is not likely to stop any time soon (Ramesh, 2004 p. 78). Negative impacts of World Wide Web There is much that can be said about the impacts of World Wide Web, and especially about the positive impacts, but we cannot just afford to overlook the negative impacts associated with the same. One of the major negative impacts associated with World Wide Web is that some people are now creating websites that contain misleading, addictive and false information, which when it falls in the hands of unsuspecting information users, may end up damaging their outlook in life (Ahuja and Shakti 1978 p. 23). Just to give an example, an article published online and written by one Allen Alberson says that there are a number of websites that have been created with the intention of providing suicidal persons with information on how to go about killing themselves. This website as actually helped take away the lives of quite a number of youngsters who were feeling suicidal at the time they took away their lives after reading trough these websites. More information can be found here; http://www.helium.com/items/1223307-suicide-chat-rooms . Much more can be said about the negative impacts of WWW but just to mention a few is that the World Wide Web is addictive and many people find themselves spending much of their time on social websites instead of doing other more constructive things. One more thing that is happening is that more and more people now tend to make decisions based on technological advance. In other words, decisions are based on the outcome of a result given by a computer, more than common knowledge. For example, it is not uncommon to hear that an organization is not giving a certain service to clients at a given time, simply because the systems are down. One is left to wonder how clients used to be served before the innovation of websites and online services (Allen, 2010 p.1). Conclusion From the findings above, it is evident that the World Wide Web has played a great role in changing communication from analogue to digital and this has revolutionalized the world in so may aspects. The network society, as it has popularly come to be known as, now need to take control of the advancing technology so that it can be able to organize itself on the basis of what people of various diversities share in common in a non-hierarchal manner. The World Wide Web is an avenue through which the public and the private can be merged together for better cohesion. Just to site an example, the revelation of the affair between the former US President Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky came out in a big way to influence how he would perform in politics after that. Since technology has no ethical or moral restraints, it has in itself become all important for such happenings that would otherwise have remained unknown. It can thus be said with such finality that such new communication technologi es like the World Wide Web will continue to make people feel more connected and to help them mainstream aspects of life such as politics, socializing, commerce and well as entertainment (Stevenson, 1995 p. 38).