In the early 1990s—a mere thirty years ago— America Online was launched into cyberspace and the Hubble Telescope was launched into outer space. These have changed our lives. And it’s an odd parallel to two technological advancements from the Middle Ages—one from 1436 and another from 1608.
In 1436, German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press with movable type. In 1608, an unknown person invented the telescope, an idea that spread as a result of printing and was quickly picked up by Galileo who built his own, studied the heavens, and had his revolutionary findings printed by printing press.
At the Wyoming School of Catholic Though this past June, adult learner listened to this introduction to Early Modern science by Dr. Paul Giesting.
Readings:
- C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image, Chapter 1
- Johannes Trithemius, De laude scriptorum, extracts
- Francis Bacon, Novum organum, Aphorism 129 of Book I
- Galileo Galilei, Sidereus nuncius, abridged
- Johannes Kepler, Dioptrics extract from the preface
- Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe, pages 206-212
