The Importance Of Inventions In The Era Of The Renaissance

As stated by American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.” The era of the Renaissance was a time where some of the best inventions were made; however, these inventions weren’t just made, they were perfected. Some of those inventions include gunpowder, clocks, and the printing press. Each of these inventions started out as an idea, but have been perfected to where they have changed people’s lives.

The Renaissance was a time of “cultural awakening” (Reynolds 1) where most of the period was dedicated to art, such as painting or architecture, but many great inventions were made as well. Some of these inventions were so important that Professor Terry Reynolds says “two of the most important inventions in history - gunpowder and printing" (Reynolds 1) were made during the Renaissance. The best way to sum this up is that some of the inventions in this era have completely impacted people’s lives.

Gunpowder has forever changed how people fight on the battlefield because of the tremendous amount of damage it can inflict. The best place to start is with how easily cannonballs can smash through almost anything. Because the cannonball could cause so much damage, castles had to be built with “low walls packed with sloping earth” (Romanek 2) and were eventually changed into forts. Additionally, guns have much better accuracy and could deal much more damage than other military weapons. Due to their deadly impact, the Venice army began to use guns instead of crossbows. In addition, Romanek, who is a renowned author, said "Gunpowder also changed the way armies fought in open battle. Infantry troops began to ...

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...look at this is how it helped the poor people. Poor people needed to have a source of entertainment as well, and as they couldn’t afford toys, books were their only option. Unfortunately, books were expensive, but with the improvements of the printing press, the cost of books were lowered significantly and the poor could finally afford them. All of this together means that the printing press was one of the most important inventions ever.

Although there were many great inventions during the Renaissance, gunpowder, the clock, and the printing press were the ones which impacted the world the most. Gunpowder affected the battlefield greatly, the clock inspired the idea of being organized, and the printing press led to the development of the computer. With all this in mind, without some of the inventions from the Renaissance, people’s lives would be completely different.