2011 ΦBK Video Series: "Handwriting after Gutenberg: John Milton to Steve Jobs," from Edward Tenner

Video Title: 2011 ΦBK Video Series: "Handwriting after Gutenberg: John Milton to Steve Jobs," from Edward Tenner. Source: Phi Beta Kappa. Date Published: September 28, 2011. Description: 

Edward Tenner is a historian of technology and culture. An independent writer and speaker on the unintended consequences of innovation, Tenner holds a Ph.D. in European history from the University of Chicago and was executive editor for physical science and history at Princeton University Press. Tenner is a former member of the Harvard Society of Fellows and was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1991. He has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and is the author of several books, including Our Own Devices: The Past and Future of Body Technology (Knopf, 2003). He was a founding advisor for the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center, where he remains a senior research associate. Tenner was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate at Princeton University.

Here, Tenner looks at the evolution of handwriting from the Middle Ages up to today, with an emphasis on the various factors that have contributed to its diversity and character. Using colorful examples from history, he discusses the technological advancements that have affected handwriting over the past 700 years and gives prescriptions for the future of the art.