Conclusion
During the era of publication, technological progress had skyrocketed. Inventions and discoveries were fostered. The printing press, which later used steam engines and electricity, were a heavenly technology that enabled mass printing of books – gone were the days of requiring scribes to write copies of the book. Furthermore, the publication of this book brought about massive changes to the European scientific community. It isn’t a far-fetched conclusion that Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres massively contributed to the technological change that took place in the 17th century. Although the idea of heliocentrism wasn’t foreign, the in-depth model forwarded by Copernicus served as inspiration for Galileo, Kepler, and other scientists and philosophers that focused on astronomy. This exhibit shows that the banning of a specific piece of literature causes endangerment to the work. Freedom of expression, when untainted by hate speech, is important as it helps progress humankind and fulfill our never-ending curiosities. The endangerment of this book due to the banning and thieving is an indication that historically significant works should be preserved in libraries, museums, and other preservation places. Furthermore, these places should enjoy an autonomy. If they remain under the rules and regulations of mass institutions like governments and religious bodies, then there is a chance that these literary works can even be completely wiped from history. Additionally, we now live in a digital world where access to information is at the tip of our fingers. The digital world interestingly collides with the physical when it comes to forms of sharing and preserving knowledge. DH projects such as this aim to preserve the knowledge of endangered literary works.