Science of the Renaissance

The original thinking of how science worked before was that the elements of fire, water, earth, and air made up matter and would mix and combine to create all things that we can see. The Earth was believed to be the center of space with all the other planets rotating around it, carrying the stars. Humans were believed to be made up of blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. These were the four humours. The four humours would determine the health of a person.

There was thought to be two separate systems blood would flow through. One would carry the scarlet blood, which gave a life-giving principle from the liver. Another system, which carried a purple and “”nutritious”” blood from the liver.

Nicolaus Copernicus, who was a Polish mathematician and astronomer, developed the theory of a heliocentric solar system. This was the idea that the sun was at the center of our solar system rather than the previously thought Earth. Leonardo Da Vinci was the first one to know that scientific knowledge would only be obtainable through experiments. Leonardo also made advancements in anatomy, studying the parts of the body and studying neuroscience. He changed the Thinking of how our body works. Galileo Galilei made great advancements in astronomy, being one of the first to use a telescope. Galileo discovered the largest four satellites of Jupiter, analyzed the sunspots of Jupiter, and confirmed the different phases of Venus.

William Harvey discovered that blood circulates through a single system of veins and arteries. His discovery changed how our blood was thought to circulate through our body. Paracelsus introduced chemistry into medicine because of his ideas on poison. He used minerals and chemicals for medicine. He considered poisons and toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury to be actually cures. He used antimony to cure Louis XIV and arsenic is used to get rid of parasites. Paracelsus was the first one to say that “”what makes a man ill, cures him”” if in small doses. This is the basis for the modern idea of homeopathy.

Ranking first is Leonardo Da Vinci who was a polymath who made advancements in anatomy and used experiments for scientific knowledge. Nicolaus Copernicus was a polymath who developed theory of heliocentric solar system, ranking him second. Galileo Galilei was a scientist who made many contributions to knowledge of astronomy and he is ranked third. William Harvey is ranked fourth for he discovered how our blood actually circulates through our body. Paracelsus is ranked in fifth because he started the basic idea of homeopathy and believed poisons can cure in small doses.

The invention of the printing press expanded literature in the Renaissance with books being able to be made faster and more efficiently. More people could read the literature of the Renaissance. Nicolaus Copernicus’ idea on the heliocentric solar system changed the way people thought about themselves. They used to think that they were the center of the solar system but the heliocentric idea changed their philosophy. Paracelsus’ chemistry impacted the field of Renaissance medicine. His idea of how small doses of poison can cure someone helped to expand medicine.

Renaissance science had a great effect on our modern understanding of science today. The printing press was invented during the Renaissance and without it, we would have been much less educated. William Harvey’s idea on how our blood circulates was true and showed the public how our body really works. Without his discovery, it would have taken much longer for us to figure that out. Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus expanded our knowledge of the planets and our solar system. Leonardo Da Vinci was the first one to use experiments for scientific knowledge. All scientists today now use experiments for science. Paracelsus’ idea on how something that makes you ill can make you cured is the idea of homeopathy. His ideas improved medicine today.

The Renaissance for science was an age of understanding, learning, and discovery. The science of the Renaissance and its scientists greatly affected the world. Advancements in astronomy, technology, medicine, and more during the Renaissance are important today. All of these great scientists deserve recognition for their contributions to modern day science. This field also affected other fields such as literature and medicine. People gained understanding of how science in our world and space actually worked.

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