Four months of relentless effort, countless trials and errors, and absolute focus had transformed little Kourosh into a consummate researcher and an unparalleled engineer. During this time, his paper-making workshop, once merely a place for producing paper that smelled of earth and wood, had now become a laboratory for creating the most revolutionary invention of humanity in that era: "movable type printing." With a tireless mind, he worked day and night on the ideas he had brought from his modern memory, and his trusted nurses, with obedience and astonishment at his intelligence and vision, blindly but faithfully accompanied him on this mysterious path.
Given the technological limitations of the time and the lack of access to suitable metals for making durable type, Kourosh decided to focus on wooden movable type. Wood was an abundant material in the green mountains of the Zagros, and carving it, though difficult and requiring high precision, was feasible. To achieve the necessary precision in carving small and uniform letters, which was essential for uniform printing, he realized the need for new carpentry tools that did not exist at that time and of which artisans were unaware. Kourosh, using the principles of modern engineering and his knowledge of mechanics, set about inventing several specialized and delicate carpentry tools.
These tools included very fine chisels and gouges for precise engraving, small planes for smoothing wood surfaces and creating uniformity in the thickness of the letters, and even a type of primitive hand drill for making precise holes in wooden pieces. He created these tools with the help of simple artisans who worked in the workshop and were amazed to see these strange instruments. This itself was another innovation in the industry of that era, which enabled artisans to perform more delicate and precise work and laid the foundations for a new tool-making industry.
After making the necessary tools, the crucial and arduous stage of creating the type began. Small, uniform pieces of suitable wood with a dense grain were selected. Then, using the fine chisels and blades that Kourosh had designed, the scribes and nurses, under his close supervision, carved the letters of the New Persian language in relief onto these small wooden pieces. Each letter was a separate block, carved with utmost precision to have the uniformity and clarity necessary for printing. This work required skill, immense patience, and great concentration, but Kourosh insisted on the precision of the work and would not tolerate the slightest flaw.
With thousands of wooden types ready, it was time for the typesetting and printing process. Kourosh designed a simple but clever wooden frame in which the movable types could be arranged neatly, row by row, to form lines and pages. The types were secured in this frame using wedges or small pieces of wood to prevent them from moving during printing and to maintain the uniformity of the text. This composition of type was itself a new skill taught to the scribes, transforming them from mere copyists into typesetters.
Next, ink was applied uniformly and carefully to the raised surface of the set types. Kourosh used an ink that he himself had optimized by combining soot, tree gum, and water, so that it was both dark and adhered well to the wood, and would not smudge after drying. Finally, the newly produced sheets of paper were placed on the inked types. To transfer the image, Kourosh had designed a primitive, manual press. This press consisted of a flat, heavy wooden plate that, with a lever or by hand, applied uniform pressure on the paper, transferring the image of the letters onto it and leaving clear lines.
The first time Kourosh, with an indescribable excitement that rose from the depths of his soul, pulled the sheet of paper out from under the press, his heart overflowed with joy. The clear and uniform lines of New Persian were imprinted on the smooth, white surface of the paper with unparalleled beauty and precision. This was the first example of movable type printing in this part of the world; an invention that, in that ancient era, seemed beyond any magic and promised a great revolution in the dissemination of knowledge and awareness. This moment was a turning point in human history, initiated from the mind of a five-year-old child.
How did this invention work? This simple, yet at the same time complex and revolutionary, device operated in such a way that instead of carving an entire page like in woodblock printing, which required a new carving for any change, the letters were carved individually and were reusable. This "movable" feature of the letters allowed the scribes, after printing one page, to remove the types from the frame and use them again to set a new page. This increased the speed of book production at a staggering rate and made it possible to print countless copies at a much lower cost and in a shorter time, freeing knowledge from the monopoly of a few.