Idea(s) of the Renaissance The word renaissance in itself means "rebirth", which originated from a French word. The idea of rebirth came about when Europeans thought that they had figured out what made the Greek and Roman culture so superior to to other just after centuries of scholastic and cultural decline. The supreme intellectual movement during the Renaissance both in England and Italy, was humanism. Humanism was based on the idea that human are levelheaded beings. It stressed the respectability and importance of individuals, a force crucial to the development of the Renaissance in many areas. Humanism came about from classical culture. The name itself originated because one of the period's major concerns for an educational curriculum aimed toward subjects of studia humanitatis, or humanities. methods of manufacturing paper * I like this page, lots of good stuff. Jordan refiner Fourdrinier Hollander beater Before the invention of continuous paper making, paper was made in individual shee ts by stirring a container of pulp slurry and pouring it into a fabric sieve calle d a sheet mold. While still on the fabric in the sheet mold the wet paper is press ed to remove excess water and then the sheet was lifted off to be hung over a rope or wooden rod to air dry. In 1799, Louis-Nicolas Robert of Essonnes, France, was granted a patent for a cont inuous paper making machine. ### history of paper Newsprint Charles Fenerty of Halifax made the first paper from wood pulp (newsprint) in 1838. Charles Fenerty was helping a local paper mill maintain an adequate supply of rags to make paper, when he succeeded in making paper from wood pulp. He neglected to patent his invention and others did patent papermaking processes based on wood fiber. Papermaking, regardless of the scale on which it is done, involves making a dilute suspension of fibres in water and allowing this suspension to drain through a screen so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibres by pressing and drying to make paper. First the fibres are suspended in water to form a slurry in a large vat. The mold is a wire screen in a wooden frame (somewhat similar to an old window screen), which is used to scoop some of the slurry out of the vat. The slurry in the screen mold is sloshed around the mold until it forms a uniform thin coating. The fibres are allowed to settle and the water to drain. When the fibres have stabilized in place but are still damp, they are turned out onto a felt sheet which was generally made of an animal product such as wool or rabbit fur, and the screen mold immediately reused. Layers of paper and felt build up in a pile (called a 'post') then a weight is placed on top to press out excess water and keep the paper fibres flat and tight. The sheets are then removed from the post and hung or laid out to dry. A step-by-step procedure for making paper with readily available materials can be found online.[13] Great instructions for hand making paper.