Paper
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The Gutenberg printing press is widely considered to be one of humanity\\u2019s defining inventions. Actually, you can quibble with Gutenberg\\u2019s place in history. He wasn\\u2019t the first to invent a movable type press \\u2013 it was originally developed in China. Still the Gutenberg press changed the world. It led to Europe\\u2019s reformation, science, the newspaper, the novel, the school textbook, and much else. But, as Tim Harford explains, it could not have done so without another invention, just as essential but often overlooked: paper. Paper was another Chinese idea, just over 2000 years ago.
Producer: Ben Crighton\\nEditors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon
(Image: Stack of coloured paper, Credit: Laborant/Shutterstock)
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