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SCENE 1: Introduction Prior to the beginning of the European Renaissance, the concept of a true scientist was unthinkable because people simply accepted the world for what it was. Indeed, the word ‘renaissance’ meant “a new birth” in all areas of thought. The processes now accepted as scientific (such as observation, hypothesis, experiment) were not strictly set as methods, but assumed to be true and looked upon as common sense. Rather, Renaissance science can be thought of as the change of thinking about the way people discovered things. Old ideas began to be questioned, and rigid beliefs held from classic Greek texts began to be tried and tested. SCENE 2: The nature of Science before the Renaissance Revolution Science (or ‘scientia’) referred to knowledge as a whole, and also natural philosophy. Medicine, magic and alchemy were encompassed in the sciences, most of which were self-taught due to the relative newness of the subject. In this area, Copernicus came closest to true science with proper method and analysis of his experiments on the stars. People observed their surroundings and asked questions, but this wasn’t considered as science as it did not require the process of working out problems logically. Rather, they relied on typical assumptions, often based on religion and spiritual beliefs, and believed that what God said was fact never to be questioned. SCENE 3: Technology Technological literature, where applicable, was only a framework of ideas and held only hints for future generations rather than full information about current knowledge as science in the Renaissance was not a precise art. People weren’t interested in furthering discovery, just but in wandering on the boundaries of human knowledge which was a creation of the Humanist revolution (another name for the Renaissance Revolution). Their mindset was fixed in their age, not wanting to discover much more than they knew but only wishing to explain what they already knew. Soon, though, people made rapid discoveries and new observations on the world around them. SCENE 4: Discoveries Leonardo da Vinci, the genius of the Renaissance, was the most creative man in thinking up hypothetical designs for such things as aeroplanes and tanks. His many sketch books contain all his ideas and observations. The Earth was considered to be the center of the universe, but Pico della Mirandola observed that the astronomical predictions were only accurate on seven out of 130 days. The charts of the day were found to be faulty – incorrect star placements and strange movements. During the Renaissance, people held complex views about the fixings of the stars on crystal spheres until Haley’s comet passed through where spheres should have been. This observation led astrologers to change their opinions. SCENE 5: Mathematicss and astronomy Knowledge of mathematics and of accountancy came about as a by-product of much increased trade between the Renaissance nations. John Widman developed and first used the plus/minus sign (±). Cardan solved cubic, quadratic and biquadratic equations, and Viete and Steuin used decimal points for the first time. Galileo and Kepler, with their observations of space using the newly invented telescope, began to refute the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system in which the earth was supposed to be the center of the universe. Harvey, using no microscopes but only careful observation, discovered blood circulation and why the heart is essential in the body but proved that it was not the center of emotion in the body. SCENE 6: The printing press revolutionized the spread of ideas. No longer did everything have to be spoken or written out long hand, but ideas could be produced in great volume. Thus, anything new could be spread to many people with little effort. This had the greatest effect on the spread and sharing of ideas through the Renaissance period and beyond, as it allowed the comparison of works of different scientist and workers. This allowed theories to be discussed, proved or disproved improving the scientific process of the time.
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