LESSON 7

The Advance Of Science And

Technology During The
Renaissance
(A.D. 1300- A.D. 1550 In The
Western World)
 INTRODUCT
ION
Renaissance was a time of creativity and change in
Europe. It was a rebirth of cultural and intellectual
pursuits after the stagnation of the Middle Ages.
It was considered as the bridge between Middle Age
and Modern History.
The Renaissance produced a golden age with many
achievements in art, literature, and science.
 Renaissance:
◦ means “rebirth” in French.
◦ time of great beauty and art.
◦ time of creativity, imagination and curiosity.
◦ age of exploration.
 But most importantly, it produced a new concept of
how people thought of themselves, each other, and
the world around them.
The Renaissance was centered in Italy during
1300s, before spreading throughout Europe in the
1500 and 1600s. Great advances occurred in
geography, astronomy, chemistry, physics,
mathematics, manufacturing, anatomy, and
engineering.
Science and Technology
Development
• Michaelangelo is
known as sculptor,
painter, poet, engineer,
and architect. His famous
works include the mural
on the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, and the
sculpture of the biblical
character David.
Ceiling of the Sistine David
Chapel
◦ The most important technological innovation of
the time was the invention of the printing press.
This was introduced from China in the 1300s.
By the 1400s, movable type was being used in
Europe as Johann Gutenberg began printing the
Bible in every language.
Printing Press Johann Gutenberg
 Soon millions of books were in circulation. This
invention led a higher literacy rate among people,
and helped with the spreading of Renaissance
ideas.
◦ Some important Renaissance technologies include
both innovations and improvements on existing
techniques such as:
mining and metallurgy:
blast furnace, finery
forge, slitting mill,
arquebus, and musket.
 firearms and the
nautical compass:
these inventions
allowed modern
people to
communicate,
exercise power, and
finally travel at
distances
unimaginable in
earlier times.
 Parachute:
Veranzio’s 1595
parachute design titled
“Flying Man”
 Mariner’s astrolabe: The earliest record uses of
the astrolabe for navigational purposes.
 Dry dock and floating dock
 Newspaper is an offspring of the printing press from
which the press derives its name.
 The 16th century sees a rising demand for up-to-date
information which cannot be covered effectively by
the hand-written newssheets.
 For “gaining time” from the slow copying process,
Johann Carolus of Strassburg is the first to publish his
German-Language Relation by using a printing press
(1605).
Johann Carolus- Relation
 Air-gun: an air-gun equipped with a powerful
spiral spring.
 Alchemy- is the study of transmutation of materials
through obscure processes. It is sometimes described as
an early for Chemistry.
One of the aim of alchemist
was to find a method of
creating gold from other
substance.
Medieval alchemist worked
with two main elements,
sulfur and mercury.
 Paracelsus was an
alchemist and physician of
the Renaissance. The
Paracelsians added the third
element, salt, to make a
trinity of alchemical
elements.
 Astronomy- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473- 1543).
Founded the theory of Heliocentric, that the earth
revolved around the sun.
 Sun is the center of solar system.
His book De revolutionibus
orbium coelestium (On the
Revolutions of the Celestial
Spheres), was finally published in
1543.
A comparison of his work with
the Almagest shows that
Copernicus was in many ways a
Renaissance scientist than a
revolutionary.
 Medicine- With Renaissance came an increase in
experimental inventions, principally in the field of
dissection and body examination, thus advancing our
knowledge of human anatomy.
 The development of
modern neurology began in
the 16th century with
Andreas Vesalius (1514-
1564), who described the
anatomy of the brain and
other organs.
 In 1543, he published
one of the most famous
publications in natural
philosophy his
anatomical book De
fabrica (On the Fabric of
the Human Body).
 It was arguably the most
important anatomical texts of the
century, at once criticizing the
work of the ancients, principally
Galen, offering new illustrations
based on the first-hand
observation and flesh dissection.
◦ Few effective drugs existed, beyond opium, and
quinine.
◦ William Harvey provided a
refined and complete
description of the circulatory
system.
- The most useful times in
medicine, used both by students
and expert physicians, were
materiae medicae and
pharmacopoeiae.
◦ Otto Brunfels (1530-
1536) published Portraits
of Living Plants, a
botanical work that
employed freshly drawn
illustrations from living
plants, undermining the
practice of copying
drawings from existing
accounts.
 Leonardo da Vinci whose areas of interest included
invention, drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture,
science, music, mathematics, engineering, literature,
anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, and
cartography.
Some famous works:
Vitruvian Man, an
example of the blend
of art and science
during the Renaissance
period.
 Vitruvius described the human figures as being
the principal source of proportion among the
classical orders of architecture.
Vitruvius determined that the ideal body
should be eight heads high.
Leonardo’s drawing is traditionally named in
honor of the architecture.
Submarines
◦ Created by Leonardo da Vinci
◦ This idea remained on paper until Cornelius Van
Drebbel decided to make it.
◦ His submarine was made of wood and was covered
with water proof leather. Oars stuck out of the vessels
and oarsmen moved the submarine.
ADDITION
AL:
Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642)
Telescope
◦ One of the “central instruments” of the Scientific
Revolution.
◦ Although he did not invent it, Galileo was the
first to use it to study the heavens systematically.
Galileo Galilei Telescope
 Sunspots
◦ Galileo observed
the Sun though his
telescope and saw
that the Sun had dark
patches on it that we
now call sunspots.
The Moons of Jupiter
◦ Galileo observed 4 points of light that changed their
positions with time around the planet Jupiter.
They were the 4 brightest
moons of Jupiter, which
are now commonly called
the Galilean moons
(Galileo himself called
them the Medicea Siderea
or the “Medician Stars”).
 The Phases of Venus
◦ Galileo used his telescope to show that Venus went
through a complete set of phases, just like the Moon.
This observation was among
the most important in human
history, for it provided the
first conclusive observational
proof that was consistent with
Copernican system but not
Ptolemaic system.
◦ Geometric and Military
Compass
◦ Galileo thermometer
◦ Concept of Inertia
◦Leaning tower of Pisa
experiment
•Martin Waldseemuller’s 1507 World Map
 1300 The first
mechanical clock.

1366 Scales for

weighing.
1411 The first piano
called the Spinet
invented.

1450 Lenses for near-

sighted people invented
by Nicholas of Cusa.
REFERENCE:
◦ Aldea, K. I. K, et al. Science, Technology, and
Society. Page 69 to 72.
◦https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
◦ Google for pictures.
◦ Fulgar, J. Science During Renaissance.
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