What are three scientific advances of the Renaissance?

Answer 1

Historians date the beginning of the Renaissance as happening as early as about 1300, or as late as about 1400, with at least one suggesting the date 1401. They date the end of the Middle Ages as early as about 1410 to as late as about 1517, with most agreeing on 1453, so the two periods overlap, and there are inventions that should be ascribed to both.

The development of linear perspective is considered as important for the Renaissance, but whether it was a Renaissance development or a medieval development that helped bring the Renaissance about depends on the point of view. We might use it to date the beginning of the Renaissance if we prefer an early date.

Printing with movable type was probably the most important invention of the Renaissance/Middle Ages, though this was invented in a part of Europe that was more medieval than Renaissance. Some consider it a marker of the end of the Middle ages.

A new blast furnace was also invented during the same period.

Purely Renaissance advances include the following:

• The new understanding of the universe brought about by Copernicus
• The dry dock
• The carpenter's brace

Answer 2

1. Development of the scientific method by Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes, which laid the foundation for modern scientific inquiry.
2. Discoveries in anatomy and human physiology by Andreas Vesalius, leading to a better understanding of the human body.
3. Copernicus' heliocentric theory challenging the geocentric view of the universe, paving the way for modern astronomy.