HIST 1082 Study Guide - Heliocentrism, Gout, Portolan Chart
Document Summary
What replaced these intellectual authorities: expansion into new world = major factor of erosion of classical texts, as portugese sailed down coast of africa, realized that ptolemy"s geography was wrong. More accurate representations of africa were created. Epistemological challenge of the new world: renaissance humanism contributed to partial undoing of epistemological problem, natural sciences broke away from humanist traditions. One of the seeds of that break lied in humanist practices: humanists learned to read classical texts carefully and extract meaning to support their own agendas critical thinkers. Would have to copy books out themselves if they wanted a book: often full of errors, humanists were in the business of correcting errors in classical text, embraced printing press because it was easier to correct errors. 1493, on way back from spain, columbus stopped in canary islands: sent letter back to ferdinand/isabella about what they found and described inhabitants.
