STS 6: Renaissance Period

Renaissance

The rebirth of science and culture marked by major developments in astronomy, humanist philosophy, the printing press, vernacular language in writing, painting and sculpture techniques, world exploration, and notable figures like Shakespeare.

New World

The __________, referring to the lands encountered by Christopher Columbus during his 1492 voyages across the Atlantic.

Ferdinand Magellan

The first person to successfully circumnavigate the globe in the early 1500s.

Printing Press

Invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440, it allowed for the mass production of Bibles, secular books, printed music, and more, making literature accessible to a larger audience.

Nicholas Copernicus

An astronomer who developed the heliocentric model of the solar system and identified errors in Ptolemy's study of epicycles.

Tycho Brahe

An astronomer known for losing his nose in a duel and creating a prosthetic nose; he contributed significantly to astronomical data collection.

Tychonic Model

A model proposed by Tycho Brahe that combines both geocentric and heliocentric elements.

Johannes Kepler

The mathematical assistant to Tycho Brahe, who developed the Laws of Planetary Motion after gaining access to Brahe's data.

Kepler’s First Law

States that all planets move in elliptical orbits around the Sun, with the Sun as one of the foci.

Kepler’s Second Law

Describes how a planet's speed varies in its elliptical orbit, moving faster when closer to the Sun and slower when farther away.

Kepler’s Third Law

Relates the time a planet takes to orbit the Sun to its mean distance from the Sun.

Galileo Galilei

The founder of experimental science who improved the telescope and made significant astronomical discoveries, including the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus.

Isaac Newton

A prominent scientist known for his work in optics, motion, and mathematics, author of the influential book "Principia."