Throughout the 15th, 16th, and 17th century there were many developments in science which caused people to reevaluate how they thought. Scientists of the time started looking back at the commonly believed theories of Aristotle and Ptolemy and started to question the accuracy. One of these scientists was Copernicus who believed in heliocentrism, the theory that all the planets in the universe revolve around …show more content…
Going against the common belief, because of new found data, is a prime example of how science helped promote the individualism of Copernicus. Another exhibit of individualism working through science is the experimental method founded by Galileo. Galileo was a scientist who challenged the beliefs of motion. He believed that theories could not be based on what should happen, but what actually happened, thus came the experimental method. The experimental method is exactly how it sounds, Galileo believed one must test something multiple times before believing it was true. At the time Galileo was living, 16th and 17th century, Europe was expected to follow what the church said regardless, but Galileo did not agree with that. With the experimental theory Galileo was encouraging people to learn for themselves to make sure what they believed was actually true because it had gone through a couple of trial runs, not just because the Pope said so. Like Copernicus, Galileo is representing how individualism is a result of scientific thought by believing in your own ideas rather than believing what everyone else does. Finally, science …show more content…
One of the first examples was the Quinto. The Quinto was a law put in place by Spain declaring that the Spanish crown must receive ⅕ of all precious metals mined in South America. This law was published during the Golden Age of Spain, meaning Spain was gaining more money by the second. The Quinto shows humanism because Spain believed they had more potential than just the explorers commissioned to find new land. Spain believed they could also be gaining wealth from all the mining in South America so they made sure they did by creating the Quinto. A second instance in which exploration helped promote humanism was the book On the Cannibals by Michel de Montaigne. On the Cannibals is a book about how the Native Americans found in the New World were not barbaric and in fact were just different. Michel de Montaigne did not believe these differences were a bad thing, he actually thought over time with the right guidance Native Americans could be as civil and successful as the Europeans. Montaigne saying all this shows he sees promise in the Native Americans. Humanism is all about believing you can achieve something greater and better, Michel Montaigne believed that of the Native Americans, not just that they were victorious in their own way at the time, but that they could be even better in the