Galileo Galilei Renaissance Astronomer?

The renaissance was a time in our history where many new discoveries and ideas emerged. It is said that the renaissance took place in the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy and parts of Europe. This period of time was an important time for human intellectual development and was essential in shaping our world, as we know it today. The renaissance was triggered in most part by two connected events one being the fall of Constantinople and the surge of ancient text available to scholars in Europe. These two triggers allowed many scholars to gain knowledge from ancient texts that they would of never had any access to. However these scholars did not just take the information for the truth and leave at that, they sought out to understand and further their knowledge and used this information as guides. This idea leads to a very significant intellectual movement called renaissance humanism, which is important idea when trying to understand the method on which Galileo’s discoveries where found. Renaissance humanism was simply a cultural and intellectual shift, in that discoveries in the renaissance were being made to benefit humans rather than discoveries with theological implications. The humanist methodology was the reason why Galileo Galilei was a typical renaissance astronomer rather than just an ancient astronomer.

In order to understand the differences between the renaissance and ancient astronomy, many factors need to be taken into account, the cultural and intellectual freedoms of the time. In ancient time, astronomy was very unpredictable and often inaccurate. This was due to the fact that many astronomers set out to use their observations and calculations to prove or enforce Aristotelian ideas. Ptolemy for instance, was a very im...

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...ir discoveries. The change was from a dependence on the use of ancient texts and discoveries made with theological importance to sense experiments as academic authority and discoveries made with practical applications. Galileo understood that intellectual discovery should be practical and should be proven with the use of the senses and thus based most of his discoveries on this. Galileo lived in the renaissance, a time where many new changes occurred; some cultural and others being in the realm of science. These changes in ideology and culture are very important as they helped in shaping our world, as we know it today.

Works Cited

Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack (2004). A History of Science in Society: From

Philosophy to Utility. Broadview Press.

Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack (eds). (2007). A History of Science in Society: A

Reader. Broadview Press.