The Renaissance spirit of curiosity, experimentation, and objectivity were also

important to the development of science in Europe. Renaissance scholars

emphasized concrete experience over abstract theory and tried to observe the
natural world carefully, completely, and without preconceived ideas. This
spirit of impartial inquiry was more important to the future of science than any
specific achievement.
In 1831, he embarked on a five-year survey voyage around the world on the
HMS Beagle. His studies of specimens around the globe led him to formulate
his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection.
His father was a doctor while his grandfather was a botanist.

Source:
http://www.centralptonews.org/CESCAP/Art%20Terms/renaissance.htm
http://www.biography.com/people/charles-darwin-9266433

Renaissance, the rise of curiosity and the rise of magic.

The Renaissance the rise of curiosity and the rise of magic provide the context to the
development of the scientific revolution. The Renaissance was crucial for the
reshaping of intellectual and cultural priorities. It began in Italy in the C14 and C15
and had spread throughout Europe by the C16. It saw the revival of interest in
classical antiquity and the rejection of the medieval period. The revived Greek texts,
interest in Greek mathematics and a more mechanistic view of the world contrasted
with and in some cases contradicted contemporary ideas about Aristotle. The revival
of mathematics and the consequent development of more sophisticated maths were a
pre-condition to later scientific developments and gave rise to the questioning of the
Aristotelian synthesis of knowledge about the world.
This led to a conflict between these new and novel elements of the renaissance and
the humanist return (looking back) to antiquity which can be seen as essentially
conservative. Humanism advocated an increased priority with regard to life, how it is
led, the dignity of man and the means to affect the world, which implied a radical
change in intellectual priorities and a changed attitude to the natural world. Man was
to become detached from nature (and become god-like) and change from the otherworldliness of the middle ages to a relationship where man manipulated nature and
became this worldly (man in control of his environment). This was to form an
important element of the scientific revolution along with the rejection of philosophy
and reason as explanations for events in favour of increased interest in practical
knowledge, crafts and arts such as mining and metallurgy, ballistics and fortifications.
Practical crafts had been ignored by scholars since the middle ages and this renewed
interest was evidence of the changed attitude of the time.
This attitude was equally reflected in the re-shaping of university curriculum,
especially with regard to mathematics in response to the increased interest. This led to
the foundation of a number of chairs of mathematics and attempts to integrate maths
and philosophy as a means of understanding the new mathematized view of nature.
Similarly C16 medicine began to challenge the tradition of Galen. Studies of human
anatomy allied with the new sciences led to new ideas with regard to how the body
works and overflowed into the study of botany and the medicinal use of plants. There
is undoubted importance with regard to these changes within the universities but it is
the influence of the princely courts that is of crucial importance. Galileo for example
abandoned university employment for the more lucrative and less onerous princely
court, even though there was the constant need to produce results and to present his
findings as dedicated to his patron (eg the Medician stars). The role of the princely
court underlines the importance of patronage and the need to enhance the prestige of
the patron. There is a direct link between the new interest in practical subjects and the
need for the solution to practical problems encountered by the Prince such as the need
for improve weapons and fortifications. The demands of the princely courts were
essentially pragmatic in nature and included the demand for better understanding of
hydraulics for better fountains, gunpowder for fireworks all of which were intended to
display the wealth, importance and knowledge of the Prince.
Another important aspect of the Princely court was the renewed interest in curiosities
and collecting. Curiosity had been considered a vice but found a new direction during
the renaissance. Paula Finden sees this princely interest as an attempt to bring the

whole of nature together in one room. The collecting habit was widespread
throughout Europe and used for various purposes, including social research.
The re-discovered texts of Plato and Hermes Tresmegistus (rediscovered in the C15)
raised interest in the mystical and spiritual and transferred attention away from logic
and the notion of causes towards ideas of revelation. In this neo-platonic ideas can be
seen as more openly magical and led to the interpretation that it was possible to
manipulate the spiritual. The texts of Hermes Tresmegistus were particularly
influential for humanists in preference to Plato. Tresmegistus was believed to be a
contemporary of Moses and underlines the interest in and the importance of antiquity,
elevating the importance of the hermetic tradition. Francis Yates saw magical items as
crucial to the rise of modern science, and champions Giordano Bruno, an outspoken
critic of orthodoxy and Aristotelian science, as a fore-runner of early modern science.
Yates sees the hermetic texts as giving rise to new ideas of cosmology and the concept
of man as magician with magical powers and knowledge, able to manipulate nature
through the forces available in the world. She regards this as a necessary preliminary
to the rise of science and sees the influence of heretic ideas as widespread for instance
n the works of Copernicus and Kepler (the presence of renaissance neo-platonism in
the idea of elliptical orbits and the Pythagorean solids). This is in tune with Francis
Bacons later conviction that man could manipulate and dominate nature
Yates ideas are important in the context of the 1960s when they were put forward
because they were part of a growing criticism that questioned the traditional values of
western science. This was part of a growing scepticism with respect to our views of
science and also formed part of the debate on what magic was and what did it
contribute to the rise of science. Yates ideas are criticised for being vague in that they
are related to the idea of one great magical tradition. Yet magic was not as unitary as
Yates implies and it was certainly not homogenous, being a series of overlapping
traditions based on a single view of the universe comprising the celestial and material
realms with correspondence between them in the form of signatures and secret
influences. This provided the opportunity to tune in to the harmony of the world as a
means of manipulating these influences by those who had the knowledge to
understand them (a form of mind-over-matter).
Alchemy was the ability to purify spirit out of a mixture, whereas astrology was an
attempt to identify the correspondence between the celestial and terrestrial by
monitoring the influence of the celestial on the terrestrial by plotting the position of
the stars. It was therefore directly linked to both science and magic and was
associated with other magical arts such as palmistry and the use of talisman etc.
Magic had existed in medieval times but had grown considerably in the C16 as a
result of the increased appetite for knowledge within the renaissance tradition. There
was a degree of conflation between the mechanical and magic arts., the latter being
seen as essentially empirical and based on forces waiting to be discovered if they
could be sought in a methodical way, hence the interest in mathematics and the
harmony of the heavens. C16 magic also contained the roots of modern magic. The
need to sanitize magical ideas in the C17 and C17 left a residue that remains as
magical today. Magic then as now was crucial, popular and quasi-religious. The
question that needs to be answered is whether the rise of magic in the C16 was the
result of a disillusionment with religion or as a result of the decline of something else?