1. Enlightenment, humanism, and scientific revolution.
Enlightenment was the period in which philosophers questioned traditional religious and cultural beliefs, while humanism focused on the idea that humans, rather than being creatures of divine influence, could make their own decisions and use their own reason to shape their lives.
The Scientific Revolution sought to understand the natural world through experimentation and mathematics, which changed the way humans looked at the world. Examples of these are the books of Galileo, such as his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which defended heliocentrism; Nicolaus Copernicus’s book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, which placed the sun at the center of the universe and assigned the planets their correct orbits; and Johannes Kepler’s work on the laws of planetary motion.
2. Their contributions to the Scientific Revolution.
Galileo was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer who advanced heliocentrism and performed experiments with inclined planes and free-falling objects. He was persecuted by the Church for his scientific ideas.
Copernicus was a Polish astronomer and mathematician who formulated a model of the universe with the Sun instead of the Earth at the center.
Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who developed three laws of planetary motion.
3. The story of Galileo is that he was an Italian philosopher and scientist who made groundbreaking discoveries in mathematics and physics. He was also the first person to use a telescope to observe the heavens, which enabled him to observe many of the physical phenomenon that he had predicted about the Universe. However, he was persecuted for his heliocentric beliefs, which conflicted with the predominant religious and scientific thought of his time. As punishment for this, he was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.
4. People explored during the Renaissance for a variety of reasons. Examples of these are trade, to gain access to new resources and create wealth; military, to gain geopolitical power; discovery and exchange of knowledge, to find new discoveries and build military strength; spiritual, to find religious enlightenment; and aesthetic, to find and generate beauty.
5. Navigation and mapping technology. Navigation technology includes navigation charts and instruments like the compass, astrolabe, and cross-staff. These tools allowed navigators to measure latitude, the angle of the sun and stars, and ocean currents, while also providing guidance around the world. Mapping technology was used to create more detailed and accurate maps, which allowed explorers to navigate unknown waters, find new territories, and further understand the world.