Some believe that the Scientific Renaissance (1450-1630) is the first part of the Scientific Revolution which started in the 17th century. I was born in Cambridge (England) at the end of the Scientific Renaissance, just as we were passing on to the next level of scientific discoveries. And then something remarkable happened and I was given the chance – a true gift – to move ahead in human and scientific history by moving forward to the future. But, if you read the first book of the Time Squatters you will learn all about it, so there is no reason to delve more into that.
Renaissance is the period from the 14th to the 17th century, that bridged the Middle Ages and the Modern history. The Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the invention of printing which democratized learning and propagation of new ideas brought great advances in geography, astronomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, manufacturing, anatomy and engineering. Most of what the modern world considers well known facts had to be discovered, thought, envisioned at that period. The rediscovery of ancient scientific texts was accelerated. The main challenge was to seek deep in the ancient knowledge, discover the truth and re-work on it on a scientific level, make it comply with the world of physics, mathematics, astronomy and such. Later on scientists go a step further to innovation to discover concepts that was never thought before or have no visual connection to the known world (more about this on another post).
In my time many scientists studied Alchemy which is the study of the transmutation, transformation of materials through obscure processes. Most of them, the least imaginative spent most of their efforts in finding a method of creating gold from other substances. But there are exceptions as in every era, and these are what make science advance.
Many scientists and great thinkers pave our way, like Nicolaus Copernicus with his idea of heliocentrism that placed all planets revolve around the Sun. He based his work on Ptolemy’s methods, and later on Jojannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei based their work on Copernicus.
A little before that, the Age of Great Geographic discoveries has started with Spain, Portugal but also other countries trying to discover uncharted lands, the New World!
This is my time! A great time. A difficult time. But this is true of all times.