AN EXPANDING WORLD

Exercise 2 page 66

1. Ptolemy’s  Geography was culturally important since it allowed scholars to map the world for the first time. As a result it was used by seafarers, as Christopher Columbus and some of the Portuguese explorers, in order to sail the sea and to discover new lands.

2. The concept of mutability was connected with Ptolemy’s view of the universe since he believed that below the moon was the world of mutability, while above it, that of permanence.

3. Copernicus questioned Ptolemy’s view of the universe and the medieval astronomical dogma since he created a new model of the solar system in which the sun was at the centre, with the earth and the other planets moving in a combination of circular movements around it.

4. Galileo contributed to the development of astronomy thanks to the invention of the telescope, that proved that the earth turns around the sun.

5. The microcosm was studied at university by astrologists who linked bodily rhythms and diseases to the motions of the seven planets. In addition they studied the influence of the twelve signs of zodiac on the various organs of the body.

6. The chain of being was organized as an entire hierarchical system that linked the different orders of life: at the start there was the inanimate class, followed by the vegetative class, then the animal class, with man at the top, and finally the angels.

7. In the chain, man occupied the top of the animal class. Indeed, man was thought to be linked to animals through his material nature and to angels through the community of understanding. He had the unique function of linking al creation together.