Tuesday, January 12, 2021

[gspdovlz] Gutenberg the leadsmith

why was Gutenberg, supposedly a goldsmith, so talented at working with lead, the primary component of type metal?  he may have been humanity's greatest expert on lead alloys up until that point, his expertise enabling him to invent the thing no one else before him could.

it could be that skills and knowledge for working with gold and other precious metals easily transfer over to working with lead (and tin and antimony).  this could be verified by modern goldsmiths, though Gutenberg's sources (raw materials) were likely different from what's available for modern metal casting.  did Gutenberg refine from ore?

or, in wild speculation of sinister activities not talked about because he is a hero, maybe the reason Gutenberg was so good at lead was because he was a forger, a counterfeiter, with much experience in creating things which looked and felt like gold or silver but which actually contained a lot of lead.

1 comment :

Legit Prick said...

Loved reading this thank yoou