The Renaissance: marble statues, da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” and over-the-top Catholic churches.
But what about the sciences?
Renaissance men also pioneered advancements in anatomy, alchemy and astronomy.
Understanding anatomy makes sense if you think about it. Would Michelangelo’s masterpiece “David” be as awe-inspiring as it is without the artist’s knowledge of the male form? Probably not. However, religious beliefs prevented Renaissance-era scientists from dissecting human bodies, limiting the amount of possible research.
Alchemy, while currently understood to not actually possible, also advanced science. In the process of fruitlessly attempting to transform lead into gold, alchemists were teaching themselves principles that would eventually become modern chemistry.
While those are important, the most abstract of all was astronomy. Until Copernicus’ work was published just before his death, astronomers couldn’t make the calculations that eventually proved that Earth was the center of the galaxy.
Additionally, probably the most important astronomical device was invented during the Renaissance. Galileo’s telescope.
It seems simple; a device that makes things far away appear closer. But its lasting impacts make a difference on current, more intense and math-heavy astronomical research.
Galileo did not come up with the idea of lenses himself. He heard about “Dutch perspective glasses,” the modern equivalent of eyeglasses, and was able to come up with a more powerful version by himself.
While the telescopes that astronomers use now contain mirrors, not lenses, that first conceptualization of making the universe seem closer helped humanity appreciate the Milky Way just a little more.
Galileo the man was a serious troublemaker.
His experiments with physics and his astronomical discoveries contradicted the Church’s teachings of the structure of the universe. The Catholic Church believed that Earth was unquestionably the center of the universe because God made it that way.
To say otherwise was heretical.
The Catholic Church hated that Galileo appeared to be contradicting what it believed to be the truth of God’s creation of the world. During Galileo’s lifetime, the Church watched him like a hawk.
Galileo was tried by the Church twice for his scientific studies. The first charge of heresy was not strong enough to pass, but he plead guilty during the second trial to the charge of “strong suspicion of heresy.”
Galileo was threatened with torture, likely to make him confess to actual heresy, but the pope decided to prevent that and only have the questioners threaten Galileo with torture.
The pope could not order for Galileo to be outright executed, because Galileo was careful to say that he never truly believed in heliocentrism. Galileo argued that he was only practicing his debate skills while he was on trial.
Yet, the pope still strongly believed that Galileo was a blasphemous. Galileo spent the last few years of his life under Church-mandated house arrest, so authorities could make sure he wasn’t poisoning the minds of other churchgoers.
Galileo was buried at the Basilica di Santa Croce. He is surrounded by fellow Renaissance men Michelangelo, da Vinci and Machiavelli.
Galileo’s contributions to science are so critically important that every elementary-schooler around the world is taught about his discoveries, conflict with the church and inventions.
Even if astrophysics is beyond your own mortal mind, Galileo’s understood impact on the world is so great the Renaissance-era science museum in Florence, Italy, is named for him.
“Oh yes,” the lady working the register at the museum’s bookstore said, “A lot of people come here.”
The Museo Galileo, located right next to the popular Uffizi Gallery, has exhibits and models from all types of Renaissance-era science. The museum’s two floors showcase antique globes, sundials, thermometers, motion machines and maps.
While walking through the exhibits, take care to note how one discovery or concept is an expansion or reinvention of previous ideas, machines or inventions.
Each exhibit features Italian and English descriptions that describe parts of complex scientific theories relating to the displayed instruments. The instruments themselves range from compasses in the navigation area to wax models of human internal organs in the early Renaissance medicine section.
The exhibits themselves start with people figuring out how to create accurate maps of the world and the celestial sky. It then gently guides the visitor toward more meteorological inventions, like thermometers and barometers, and entirely physics-concept-inspired machines like a “line-dividing engine.”
Even if someone did not like, understand, or want to like or understand anything about astronomy or science in general, the beauty of the instruments and exhibits captivates all its visitors.
The museum’s exhibits are thoughtfully organized and decorated. The intricate metal instruments reflect the vibrant yellow and bold blue of the walls. Several scattered televisions explaining motion-related physics concepts or historians demonstrating how an unusual machine works.
The museum’s interior designer also thought to include several chairs and benches for weary visitors. The entry line was almost non-existent at 3:30 in the afternoon, and the Firenzecard, a multi-museum pass, lets you cut the stray person or two ahead of you in line.
The convenient location and the museum’s free Wi-Fi access make the €9 ticket is well worth the expense.
However, the best part of the whole museum is the last three rooms which you pass on the way to the bookstore exit. Since most of the scientific discoveries are beyond a person’s ability to conceptualize in an hour or two, the museum has several interactive stations for visitors to fool around with.
The overall museum wasn’t the most child-friendly because of the nature of Renaissance science itself, but the stations explaining the Earth’s orbit and the gravitational effects of Jupiter’s moons felt like a child genius’ dream come to life. Even the adults were gamely interacting with the different screens and models.
Take an hour or two, visit the Galileo Museum and travel back in time before science was a scary, un-learnable and intimidating subject and revive the mystical coolness that science-minus-complicated-jargon is.
You’ve read this far, so you’ve learned about Galileo-the-historic-figure, but go to the museum in Florence and learn about Galileo-the-extremely-important-scientist.