ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the enormous impact of Gutenberg's invention of printing upon the cultural evolution of the West in terms of its critical role in the solution of the epistemological problem. The reformations of the sixteenth century were that century's most notable long-term contribution to the shaping of the modern world and, hence, to its rise to hegemony. One of the major arenas of religious contention occurred with respect to the opening and control of schools to assure the recruitment, retention, and doctrinal orthodoxy of the oncoming generations. The co-opting of religious exclusiveness augmented the concerted drives of the autocratic states to consolidate their power and wealth. The leading figures of the humanist Renaissance were almost universal in the inclusion of such claims in virtually every one of their numerous publications and in their correspondence. The enormously intensified pursuit of new knowledge in the sciences was virtually entirely dependent upon the publication of books advancing new and testable hypotheses.
