Renaissance+Science

Astrolabe. N.d. Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum. //The Astrolabe//. Web. 5 May 2010. . Harvey, Willliam. //A sketch from William Harvey’s 1639 book, Anatomical Essay on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals//. 1639. //Beyond Books//. Web. 21 May 2010. . Hapgood. Pablo Toscanellis’ Map. N.d. //Henry-Davis//. Web. 18 May 2010. .
 * Astrolabe || Motions of the Heart and Blood || Toscanelli's Map ||
 * [[image:astrolabe.gif width="192" height="237"]] || [[image:William_Harvey.jpg width="281" height="200"]] || [[image:toscanelli's_map.jpg width="265" height="173"]] ||
 * The Astrolabe is an ancient astronomical computer for solving problems relating to time and the position of the sun and stars in the sky. This specific astrolabe was made by French scientist and craftsman Jean Fusoris. Astrolabes are used to show how the sky looks at a specific place at a given time. In order to do this, the sky is drawn on the face of the astrolabe and marked so the positions in the sky are easier to find. Then you adjust the moveable components of the astrolabe to a specific date and time and the whole sky is represented on the face of the astrolabe. The astrolabe is commonly used to find the time of a celestial event, and as a reference for celestial positions. The most commonly used type of astrolabe is the Mariners astrolabe which is just a ring marked in degrees for finding latitude and longitude. The astrolabe was the most popular astronomical instrument until around 1650 when it was replaced by more advanced technology. || This sketch from William Harvey's 1639 book, Anatomical Essay on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals shows blood circulating through a human body. Harvey published his findings on blood circulating in mammals in his scientific classic, On the Motions of the Heart. When the book came out, it went against previous views and brought Harvey ridicule, but now he is recognized as the founder of the field of physiology. || In the early Renaissance it was widely disputed whether it was faster to go around the Cape of Good Hope or west when sailing to the Far east. IN the 1470s, a Florentine physician and cosmographer, was the first person to prove his theory about going west using cartography. Toscanelli made a map(recreated at top) showing why it would be faster to go west . At the same time the map was cerated, the Portuguese believed that they had already reached the southernmost point of Africa and that the riches of India was close by, but then they discovered that the land kept going south and they were not as close as they had thought. In this situation, the king instructed his confessor to write to Toscanelli asking him to explain his theory about sailing west more clearly. In the letter he wrote back, Toscanelli enclosed the map. The vertical lines on the cart show the distance from east to west, the horizontal lines show the distance from north to south. The cart also shows places in India that may be reached if a sailor encounters a storm or other misfortune. ||