CHAPTER IV 



THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN SCIENCE 



We think too much of the Renaissance as mainly character- 

 ized by literary and artistic revival and achievement. 

 The history of science shows that the period was one of 

 diversified activity and that its scientific achievements 

 were even more important than those in other lines. It was 

 during the Renaissance that science became securely estab- 

 lished; and the scientific spirit of the modern world is but 

 a continuation of the spirit which appeared in southern and 

 western Europe during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and six- 

 teenth centuries. The limits of such an historical period, of 

 course, are arbitrary. In literature and art, the time at 

 which the Renaissance culminates is recognized as differing 

 in different countries. Considering science alone and the 

 western world as a whole, we may apply the term to a 

 period (1350-1700) which includes both the century of the 

 awakening in Italy and also the centuries during which 

 science became strongly established within the nations that 

 succeeded Italy in the intellectual domination of Europe. 

 During the Renaissance a thoroughly scientific spirit appears 

 for the first time in history. For not only was the older 

 learning recovered and rated at its true value, but there also 

 occurred a new development of natural knowledge, which has 

 brought forth the science of the present time. 



MEDIEVAL ANTECEDENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE IN SCIENCE 



The culture of the Renaissance, like that of ancient 

 Hellas, was formerly regarded as a spontaneous develop- 

 ment. But investigation has told us more of its origins. 



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