Hot Metal Transforms the Speed of Information

From 1450 to the mid-1880s, nearly every printed word was set one tedious letter at a time. Then the machine age grabbed hold.

In front of you are two drawers, called cases. They’re full of letters, split between a case you place higher — an upper case — full of capitals, and a lower case of minuscules, or small, literal “lowercase” letters. In the dim light, you glance at a piece of paper covered with handwritten words and notations and, with a practiced motion…