Santa Clara Valley Historical Association

The Renaissance Connection

There are certain periods in history when discoveries and events, both political and in technology, create a window when civilization has the opportunity to leap forward. One of these was a convergence of events and inventions that spurred on an age of discovery. We know this age as the Renaissance. The underlying event was the advent of the Black Death, the plague. The decimation of cheap labor led to labor saving innovations and to the crucial inventions.

The primary advancements during the Renaissance were the printing press, the compass and gunpowder.  It was the printing press and subsequently, the development of small affordable books that created the first information revolution. Gunpowder and the decimation of the labor force changed the political landscape from a feudal society. The compass enabled the great voyages to discover new worlds.

The Renaissance was a time of invention, entrepreneurial accomplishments and exploration – very similar to what has occurred in Silicon Valley. The historical periods are remarkably alike.

The convergence of the personal computer, router technology that allows different computer platforms to communicate and the end of the Cold War, which prompted the democratization of the Internet, all were crucial to the new Information Revolution.