Modern Science, the precise knowledge of physical world based on experimental observations and advanced mathematics, did not fully develop until the latter part of the 17th Century. By the 18th Century, the field of science had become the most important branch of knowledge for many people. However, like all great intellectual movements, the Scientific Revolution happened gradually, in very small steps.
Medieval Science
Following the fall of the Roman Empire in 500 AD, the advanced learning of the Greeks and Romans were lost to Europeans. For hundreds of years, Europe suffered through a stagnant intellectual funk, known as the Middle Ages, where most knowledge centered on the teachings of the Christian Church.
Toward the end of the middle ages, science was burgeoning field of study, coming in far behind theology (study of religion), art, literature and philosophy. However, by the 1300s, many medieval philosophers began developing new ideas that were not directly related to the teachings of the Church. In this way, science emerged as small branch of philosophy. Gradually, through the 14th and 15th Centuries, beginning in Italy, universities began employing professors of mathematics, astronomy and physics (natural philosophy). However, these professors were still considered the lowest rung of academia. Despite this biased attitude, which persisted until the late 18th Century, these early scholars helped lay the foundation for the Scientific Revolution.
Renaissance Science
As trade gradually increased and new ideas spread throughout Europe thanks to the Humanist movement, ancient Greek teachings were rediscovered. The recovery of Greek mathematics was a huge help in improving European science and math. Also contributing to the development of science during the Renaissance were the aristocracy and growing merchant class. Wealthy Renaissance families, such as the Medici’s in Florence, were also patrons of scientific thinkers and philosophers, along with painters and sculptors.
Aristotle Rediscovered
Up until the 1500s, most scientific thought concerning the universe was based on the teachings of Aristotle, a Greek philosopher of the Fourth Century B.C. Aristotle believed that the earth was motionless, a fixed planet at the center of the Universe. Around the earth were ten separate crystal spheres. In the first eight spheres were the moon, the sun, the five known planets and the fixed stars. However, during the Middle Ages, scientists realized that the stars were not in a fixed position, but actually moved. To accommodate for this unexplained phenomenon, they added two more spheres. Heaven and the throne of God lay beyond the tenth sphere. Angels kept all these spheres moving in tip-top shape.
Aristotle’s view of the universe was accepted with very little questioning for over two thousand years, for two main reasons.
- He and common sense explanation for the world that people accepted without much question.
- This view dovetailed nicely with Christian doctrine, establishing a place for heaven and God, and putting the earth at the center of the universe.
Another famous Greek, Ptolemy, contributed to Aristotle’s view of the Universe. Ptolemy also placed the earth at the center of the universe. He described the universe as a system of epicycles.
All of the traditional Medieval beliefs of Aristotle and Ptolemy would be shattered during the 16th and 17th century, as new theories about the universe and science emerged from thinkers such as Polish clergyman Nicolaus Copernicus, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and Italian scientist Galileo Galilei.
Sources:
Mckay, Hill, Buckler. A History of World Societies: Volume II Since 1500. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1992
Sider, Sandra. Handbook to Life in Renaissance Europe. New York: Facts on File. 2004
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