Question

Which 18th century French novelist declared, "The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress"?

Answer 1

Hint: A printing press is a mechanical device that transfers ink by exerting pressure to an inked surface resting on a print medium (such as paper or cloth). The invention and global expansion of the printing press, which was typically employed for texts, was one of the most impactful events in the second millennium.

Complete answer:
Louis-Sébastien Mercier who was born on 6 June 1740 and lived till 25 April 1814 was a French dramatist and novelist whose proto-science fiction work L'An 2440 was published in 1771. He was born into a poor household in Paris, where his father worked as a talented artisan polishing swords and metal arms. Mercier did, however, acquire a good education.

He took part in the French Revolution as a moderate. He believed that the printing press was a formidable engine capable of sweeping dictatorship from power. The printing press permitted the mass production of books and made them affordable to the majority of the population. This resulted in a rise in literacy and the number of readers. Ideas of radicalism, equality, liberty, and brotherhood were sparked in the imaginations of the readers.

Thus, Louis-Sébastien Mercier declared, "The printing press is the most powerful engine of progress".

Note: One of the key advantages of the printing press was that it allowed for the rapid dissemination of ideas and news, which aided in the Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Enlightenment, and scientific revolution. For the first time, a printing press efficiently and effectively disseminated literature to the public.