INVENIRE

Born to a merchant and a shopkeeper's daughter, circa to the year 1400, in Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg is known as the man who developed Europe's first movable-type printing press. His invention led to changes in attitudes toward religion and philosophy, ushered in a scientific revolution and, some might argue, laid the foundation for a society in which everyone had access to information and literature.  Gutenberg managed to achieve such a feat, as a result of his innovation, perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit.  His story is proof that great inventions are born from repeated failure, as opposed to success; he invented the printing press to offset the losses from a failed business venture selling mirrors. The purpose of this article is not to re-tell the story of Gutenberg's invention (although it must be the duty of historians to remind us of pioneers like Gutenberg). It is to examine both the immediate effect of his genius on the continent of Europe, and th...

Thirty months ago, in June 2016, Hillary Clinton was the presumptive nominee of the US Democratic Party for the 2016  presidential election. Poll after poll declared that she would be President of the United States before she was even formally announced as her party's nominee. As expected, she became the party nominee, beating Bernie Sanders, and from there on, nearly every journalist and political pundit proclaimed her triumph over Trump. To affirm her "victory", she appeared with celebrities, hoping that her association with rappers, actors, athletes, late-night hosts and reality TV stars might convince America's approximately 69 million Millenials to vote for her. From Ben Affleck to Henry Zebrowski, via LeBron James and Bill Maher, thousands of celebrities endorsed Clinton's presidential campaign, making certain that Hillary would win in a historic landslide. November would see bigotry and stagnation, the values that Clinton's campaign attached to Trump,...

There has been much talk in recent years about making modern foreign languages compulsory until GCSE level, and recently, Lucy Noble, the artistic director at the Royal Albert Hall, stated that all students should take a GCSE in a creative art subject. Opinion journalists have also written in prominent publications such as The Telegraph, arguing that a modern foreign language should be studied by all students until the age of 16. I would like to make the case for making the study of a classical language compulsory in all secondary schools, as it has many benefits for both the students and the wider society. Classical languages, like Latin and Ancient Greek, are often overlooked, but I believe they are essential to a complete education. Classical languages form the basis for much of the English language, with about 60% of the language having either a Greek or Latin origin. In the jargon of science and technology, this number is 90%, with words like "computer" from computo, m...