古腾堡(约1395～1468年)
Gutenberg, Johannes (Gensfleisch zur Laden zum)
德国发明家，发明活字印刷术。美因兹一位贵族之子。曾在美因兹和史特拉斯堡从事切削宝石之类的工艺。1438年致力於活字印刷的发明研究。1450年他研制的印刷机已达到相当完善的程度，因此向当地富商富斯特（1400年～1466）借贷巨款，并合夥从事於活字印刷的试制和研究，但於1455年拆夥，两人对簿公堂，结果古腾堡败诉。富斯特胜诉後，控制了古腾堡的印刷设备。1455年古腾堡完成了他的杰作《四十二行圣经》，这是最早的活字印刷品。第二部杰作《诗篇》於1457年出版。有若干其他印刷术过去曾认为是古腾堡发明的，而现在则被认为是其他名声较小的印刷商所为。古腾堡活字印刷术主要组成部分包括铸字模和冲压字模、铸造活字的合金、新式印刷机以及油脂性印刷油墨。这些特徵在当时中国或朝鲜的印刷术、欧洲的美术字压印技术和木版印刷术中都是不具备的。古腾堡的发明是西方文明发展中最重要的里程碑之一。
English version：
约1395～1468年
Gutenberg, Johannes (Gensfleisch zur Laden zum)
German inventor of a method of printing from movable type. Born to a patrician family in Mainz, he apparently worked at such crafts as goldsmithing and gem cutting in Mainz and Strasbourg, and was experimenting with printing by 1438. He obtained backing in 1450 from the financier Johann Fust (c. 1400-1466); Fust's impatience and other factors led to Gutenberg's loss of his establishment to Fust in 1455. Gutenberg's masterpiece, and the first book ever printed from movable type, is the “Forty-Two-Line” Bible, completed no later than 1455. A magnificent Psalter was published in 1457, after the loss of his press. The only other works still attributed to him are minor. His invention's unique elements included a mold, with which type could be cast precisely and in large quantities; a type-metal alloy; a new press, derived from those used in winemaking, papermaking, and bookbinding; and an oil-based printing ink. None of these features existed in Chinese or Korean printing, in the existing European technique of stamping letters on various surfaces, or in woodblock printing. Gutenberg's invention, seminal to the course of Western civilization, remained the source of the basic elements of typesetting for 500 years.