What important impact did the European Renaissance revolution have on the history of the development of modern natural science?
The Renaissance was an anti-feudal cultural movement led by the bourgeoisie in the ideological and cultural fields. Due to the development of productive forces and the emergence of the buds of capitalism, it emerged in Italian cities at the end of the 13th century, and later expanded to Western European countries. An ideological and cultural movement that prevailed in Europe in the 16th century brought about a period of scientific and artistic revolution, and unveiled the The prologue of modern European history is considered to be the boundary between the medieval era and modern times. Its essence is a movement launched by the emerging bourgeoisie to promote bourgeois ideas and culture in the name of reviving Greek and Roman classical culture. The core idea of ??the Renaissance was humanism. Humanism originated in Italy in the second half of the 14th century, and then spread throughout Western Europe. Humanists oppose "divinity" with "human nature" and oppose "divine power" with "human rights". They put forward the slogan "I am a human being, and I have all the characteristics of a human being". They are very dissatisfied with the church's control of the spiritual world. They demand that people be the center instead of God. They praise human wisdom and strength, praise the perfection and sublimity of human nature, oppose the arbitrary rule of religion and the feudal hierarchy, and advocate individuality. Liberation, equality and freedom, advocating the development of human personality, demanding happiness in this world and joy in the world, and promoting scientific and cultural knowledge. Therefore, the concept of humanism focuses on "people", which is the expression of "people's" instincts and the driving force for "people" to pursue truth, goodness and beauty.
As an ideological emancipation movement that promoted the emerging bourgeois culture, the Renaissance movement laid a solid foundation for the early development of capitalism during its spread, and at the same time accumulated primitive wealth for the early bourgeoisie. . It has effectively promoted the development and progress of social history. This fact fully demonstrates that science has increasingly become the most important factor in productivity and the most revolutionary force in promoting social development. At the same time, it also reflects the rapid progress of human beings' ability to understand nature and transform nature. Engels pointed out that the second half of the 15th century, that is, the beginning of the Renaissance, was a great period of bourgeois revolution. In this greatest revolution in history, natural science in the true sense was born and developed rapidly. First, the bourgeoisie's struggle against imperialism liberated natural science from the shackles of theology. Engels pointed out that in the feudal Middle Ages, "Science was just a respectful servant of the church and was not allowed to exceed the boundaries defined by religious beliefs, so it was not science at all." In order to oppose feudal rule, the emerging bourgeoisie must first point the edge of its struggle at the spiritual pillar of the feudal * system - religion. As Engels said: "At that time, every struggle against the feudal system had to put on the cloak of religion, and first pointed the finger at the church." The early bourgeois thinkers vigorously opposed the ideological dominance of religious theology, and in the process of criticizing scholasticism Among them, a large number of outstanding idealist scholars emerged, such as Bruno, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. They vigorously advocated and advocated materialist ideas, promoted the development of natural science, and requested the use of experimental methods to study nature. The struggle of the bourgeoisie against the feudal system and the dominance of theological ideas freed natural science from the shackles of theology and gained understanding. "The development of science will make great strides from now on."
The Renaissance movement slowly liberated people from the shackles of traditional feudal theology. People began to slowly explore the value of human beings under the cloak of religion. As human beings, this new concrete existence, and It is not a new era of personal and spiritual attachment to feudal lords and religious lords. The Renaissance movement fully affirmed the value of human beings, valued human nature, and became a powerful call for people to break through the layers of veils in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance movement had a great impact on the political, scientific, economic, philosophical, and theological worldviews of the time. It is a revolutionary storm in the ideological field of the emerging bourgeoisie, also known as the "era of giants."
Modern natural science began with the revolution in the field of astronomy. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences. In the West, through the research of Pythagoras, Plato, Hipparchus, Ptolemy and others, several different theoretical systems have been proposed, becoming the most theoretical discipline and the one with the most theoretical models. a subject. At the same time, astronomy is closely related to people's production and life. People rely on the sky for farming, animal husbandry, navigation, and observation time. This will inevitably promote the development of astronomy. However, astronomy was a very sensitive subject at the time. In the field of astronomy, the struggle between two views of the universe, old and new, is fierce. Especially in the late Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had ulterior motives in covering Ptolemy's geocentric theory with a mysterious veil. To insist that the earth is at the center of the universe proves God's wisdom. When God sent humans to the earth to rule all things, he must put the earth, the residence of humans, at the center of the universe. After this absurd statement was respected as authority, Ptolemy's theory became an undoubted result and seriously hindered the progress of astronomical science. However, after the Julian calendar based on the geocentric theory was confirmed as the Christian calendar in 325, its small errors have accumulated over a long period of time and have reached a point that cannot be ignored, which is very different from the observation data. The captain of a Portuguese prince once said: "Although we admire the famous Ptolemy very much, we find that everything is contrary to what he said.
"The errors of the Ptolemaic system were increasingly exposed, and people urgently needed to establish a new theoretical system. At that time, the Renaissance was booming, which not only greatly liberated people's minds, but also promoted the emergence of modern natural science. Polish astronomer Cobel In 1543, Ni published "On the Revolution of the Celestial Bodies", in which he proposed a heliocentric system that was different from Ptolemy's geocentric system. The Italian thinker Bruno published "On Infinity, the Universe and the Worlds". Books such as "Cause, Origin and Unity" claim that the universe is infinite in space and time, and that the sun is only the solar system and not the center of the universe. Galileo invented the astronomical telescope in 1609 and published "The Astral Messenger" in 1610. In 1632, he published "Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus". The German astronomer Kepler studied the observation data of his teacher, the Danish astronomer Tycho, in his "New Astronomy" in 1609. and "The Harmony of the World" in 1619 proposed the three laws of planetary motion and determined that the planets orbit the sun in an elliptical orbit, and such motion is not unequal.
The Renaissance restored the value of reason, dignity and thinking. Although the Renaissance made little achievements in philosophy, it destroyed the rigid scholastic system, promoted scientific methods and scientific experiments, proposed that "knowledge is power", and pioneered exploration. The new trend of people and the real world. People firmly believe in their own eyes and their own minds, and believe that experiments and experience are the reliable sources of knowledge. This realistic attitude, way of thinking and scientific methods were the great development of natural science from the 17th to 19th centuries. Laying a solid foundation
In summary, the Renaissance promoted the emergence and development of modern natural sciences
Natural sciences:
Astronomy
Polish astronomer Copernicus published "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Bodies" in 1543, in which he proposed a heliocentric system that was different from Ptolemy's geocentric system. Italian thinker Bruno published "On Infinity, the Universe and the Worlds". , "On Cause, Origin and Unity" and other books claimed that the universe is infinite in space and time, and the sun is only the solar system and not the center of the universe. Galileo invented the astronomical telescope in 1609 and published "The Star World" in 1610. "Messenger", published in 1632 "Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus", the German astronomer Kepler studied the observation data of his teacher, the Danish astronomer Tycho, in 1609. "New Astronomy" and "The Harmony of the World" in 1619 proposed three laws of planetary motion, determining that planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits, and that such motion is unequal.
Mathematics
Algebra achieved important development during the Renaissance, and solutions to cubic and quartic equations were discovered. The Italian Cardano published the cubic equation in his book "The Great Art". The root-finding formula, but the discovery of this formula is actually attributed to another scholar, Tartaglia. The solution to the quartic equation was discovered by Cardano's student Ferrari and was also recorded in "Da Shu". In his work, Bombelli explained the irreducible case of cubic equations, used imaginary numbers, and improved the algebraic notation popular at the time. Symbolic algebra was established by the French mathematician Veda in the 16th century. He published "Introduction to Analytical Methods" in 1591, which systematically organized algebra and consciously used letters to represent unknown and known numbers for the first time. In another of his works, "On the Identification and Correction of Equations," Weda improved the solution methods of cubic and quartic equations, and also established the relationship between the roots and coefficients of quadratic and cubic equations, which is called Weida in modern times. reach theorem. Trigonometry also achieved great development during the Renaissance. German mathematician Regmontanus's "On the Various Triangles" was the first European work on trigonometry independent of astronomy. The book provides a systematic explanation of plane trigonometry and spherical trigonometry, as well as a very precise table of trigonometric functions. Rheticus, a student of Copernicus, created more sophisticated tables of trigonometric functions based on redefining trigonometric functions.
Physics
In terms of physics, Galileo discovered the three laws of falling bodies, projectile bodies and oscillation through many experiments, which gave people a new understanding of the universe. His student Torricelli proved air pressure through experiments and invented the mercury barometer. French scientist Pascal discovered the law of pressure propagation in liquids and gases. British scientist Boyle discovered the law of gas pressure.
Physiology and Medicine
The Belgian doctor Vesalius published the book "The Structure of the Human Body", challenging Galen's "Trinity" theory. The Spanish doctor Servetus discovered the small circulatory system of blood and proved that blood flows from the right ventricle to the lungs and through a tortuous route to the left ventricle. British anatomist Harvey conducted a large number of animal anatomy experiments and published "On the Movement of Heart" and other treatises, which systematically explained the laws of blood movement and the working principle of the heart. He pointed out that the heart is the center of blood movement and the source of power. This major discovery made him the originator of modern physiology.
"The Great Geographic Discovery"
Navigation technology took a revolutionary leap, and explorers from Portugal, Spain, and Italy began a series of long-distance navigation activities. The geographical discoveries of Columbus, Magellan and others provided strong evidence for the theory of a round earth.
The rediscovery of printing in Europe, as well as papermaking, compasses, and gunpowder (the four great inventions of China) brought from the East, promoted the rapid spread of scientific ideas.
Literature
Writers from all over the world began to use their own dialects instead of Latin for literary creation, which promoted popular literature and injected a large number of literary works into various languages, including novels and poems. , prose, ballads and dramas, etc.
In Italy, the "Three Literary Heroes" appeared in the early Renaissance. Dante wrote many academic works and poems throughout his life, the most famous of which are "New Life" and "The Divine Comedy". Petrarch is the originator of humanism and is known as the "Father of Humanism". He was the first to issue a call for the revival of classical culture and proposed to oppose "theology" with "humanity". Petrarch mainly composed many beautiful poems, and his representative work is the collection of lyrical sonnets "Songbook". Boccaccio is the founder of Italian national literature, and the collection of short stories "The Decameron" is his masterpiece.
In France, the Renaissance movement clearly formed two factions, one was the aristocratic faction represented by the "Seven Stars Poetic Society", and the other was the democratic faction represented by Rabelais. The "Seven Stars Poetry Society", represented by Longchat and Du Belle, has made outstanding contributions in language and poetry theory. They were the first to put forward the idea of ??unifying the national language and promoted the development of the French national language and national literature. However, they rejected folk poetry and only served a few nobles. Rabelais is an outstanding humanist writer after Boccaccio and a representative of French Renaissance democracy. "The Legend of Giants", which he created over 20 years, is a realist work that interweaves reality and fantasy, and occupies an important position in the history of European literature and education.
In Britain, representatives include Thomas More and Shakespeare. Thomas More is a famous humanist thinker and the founder of utopian socialism. "Utopia", which he wrote in Latin in 1516, was the first work of utopian socialism. Shakespeare is a talented dramatist and poet. Together with Homer, Dante, and Goethe, he is known as the four epoch-making writers in Europe. His works have complete structures, vivid plots, rich and refined language, and outstanding characters. They collectively represent the highest achievements of European Renaissance literature and have a profound impact on the development of European realist literature.
In Spain, the most outstanding representatives are Cervantes and Vega. Cervantes was a realist writer, dramatist and poet. He wrote a large number of poems, plays and novels, among which the satirical novel "Don Quixote" is the most famous, which had a significant impact on the development of European literature. Vega is a dramatist, novelist and poet, the founder of Spanish national drama, and is known as the "Father of Spanish Drama". He is a rare and prolific writer in the world. He wrote more than 2,000 scripts in his lifetime, and more than 600 of them have been handed down to this day, including religious dramas, historical dramas, mythological dramas, sword dramas, pastoral operas and other forms. It profoundly reflects the social reality of Spain and is deeply loved by the masses. The most outstanding masterpiece is "Yangquan Village".
The Renaissance and Modern Western Civilization
If we say that Columbus’s discovery of the New World was a major exploration of mankind into the unknown material world, then the Renaissance should be about mankind and the unknown spirit An "intimate encounter" with the world.
The original meaning of "Renaissance" refers to the revival of classical cultures such as ancient Greece and ancient Rome. It first occurred in Italy in the 14th century and expanded to Germany, France, Britain and Spain in Europe in the 16th century. Waiting places. The Renaissance was a liberation of the European humanistic spirit. It had a transitional nature and was a cultural movement that transitioned from feudal society to capitalist society. From then on, various European countries gradually entered a new historical period, which had a great impact on the subsequent development of European science and technology. And it played an important role in promoting and ideological guidance for the final establishment of capitalism in Europe. Engels once spoke highly of the progressive significance of the "Renaissance" in human history: "This is the greatest and progressive change that mankind has ever experienced. It is a period that requires giants and produces giants - in thinking ability, enthusiasm and character, in the era of giants in terms of versatility and knowledge."
The most important point of the Renaissance is undoubtedly the discovery of "people", affirming the value of human existence and creative ability, and attaching great importance to human beings. Value, give full play to people's intelligence and creative potential. People should be liberated and their personalities should be free. They should oppose negative and inactive attitudes towards life, promote a positive spirit of adventurism, and oppose religious asceticism. Human nobility should be given a new meaning. The connotation is fully reflected. Its great historical significance is that the Renaissance prompted the European people to transition from taking "God" as the center of the world to taking "man" as the center of the world. This awakened people's enterprising spirit, creative spirit and scientific experiment spirit, and promoted political theory. The development of the capitalist class provided a good public opinion environment and ideological standards for the emergence of the bourgeoisie, and made sufficient ideological preparations for the subsequent Enlightenment Movement and a series of bourgeois revolutions, thereby spiritually laying the foundation for the final victory and establishment of the capitalist system. A path was opened. In addition, all these powerfully promoted and influenced the religious reform movement, clearing the way for further ideological progress in the future. The Renaissance restored nature, reason, and the value of life, and ushered in a new era of human exploration of humanity and the world.
The "humanism" advocated by the Renaissance, as a new spiritual force, led to social changes and the birth of the scientific revolution in modern Europe. Beginning in the mid-16th century, the astronomical revolution of Copernicus' heliocentric theory announced the birth of the modern scientific revolution in the West. The historical significance of this scientific revolution is very far-reaching. Together with the revolutions in the fields of thought (Renaissance) and politics (bourgeois revolution), it greatly promoted the development of modern and even modern Western civilization, and quickly formed a society with the West as its dominant position. New world. The impact of the Renaissance on the modern scientific revolution was multi-faceted. It broke people's superstition on the inviolable creed of "god". At the same time, it also guided people to personally observe and study natural phenomena and the real world with objectivity. Facts explain things in the world. The Renaissance was also the ideological emancipation movement of the early bourgeoisie and the forerunner of the Enlightenment. The Renaissance’s outstanding achievements in breaking through the shackles of medieval religious theology deserve full recognition. It summoned the arrival of bourgeois revolution, an inevitable trend in historical development.
First of all, the Renaissance caused