The Medieval World (500 A.D. - 1500 A.D.)

   The span of time from the destruction of Rome by the Vandals in 475 A.D. to the Renaissance (the late fifteenth century) is usually referred to as the "medieval period" or the "middle ages".  In the early part of this period (500 - 1000), learning and high culture virtually came to a halt in western Europe.  However, in other parts of the world civilization was flourishing.  Mayan civilization, for example, was reaching its pinnacle at this time.  In the Eastern Mediterranean, the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) maintained an active intellectual life, and after 700 A.D. Islamic culture advanced to great heights.

Western Europe

Ruins of Coliseum in Rome

San Gimignano, Italy

Dante's Cosmos

 

    The ruins of the coliseum symbolize the end of the Roman Empire in the west and the end of classical culture as well.  The walled Tuscan city of San Gimignano represents the feudal system which replaced it.  When European learning began to revive (starting around 1000), scholarship was dominated by what is known as the "Scholastic" school of philosophy.   One aspect of this philosophy was a fusion of Biblical scripture with Aristotle's beliefs concerning the natural world.  Thus, there was some tendency to equate Aristotle's physics as authoritative (and as sacred) as the Bible.  The greatest of the scholastic philosopher was Thomas Aquinas, but scientists tend to remember William of Ockham and Nicole d'Oresme from the period.  William of Ockham is famous for his "Razor":  "It is vain to do with more what can be done with less", generally interpreted to be an admonishment to take the simplest theory which explains all the facts.   In the fourteenth century Nicole Oresme wrote a quite cogent argument that it is impossible to tell whether it is the Earth or the celestial sphere which is rotating, although he claimed that he believed that it was the celestial sphere since that is what the Bible teaches.  The picture to the far right is the cosmos of Dante Alighieri, described in his     "Inferno".  It depicts a thoroughly  Aristotelian universe (nested crystalline spheres) with Christian symbolism grafted on. 

The Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Constantinople (today, Istanbul)

Hagia Sophia

Chora Church

 

   The Eastern Roman Empire with its capitol at Constantinople survived for nearly a thousand years after the fall of Rome.  Greek learning was preserved during the Dark Ages (500 - 1000) in these provinces and eventually made its way back to western Europe.  The Eastern Orthodox Church was significantly different from its western counterpart, but its cosmological outlook was similar.  Note the fresco of heaven at the above right.  Although the interpretation is not certain, it appears that an angel is opening the celestial sphere from above to reveal the secular realm of sun, moon and stars below.  

The Islamic World

Mosque, Central Anatolia

Mosque, Istanbul

Mosque, Konya

 

   In little over a century from 700 A.D., the religion proclaimed by the prophet Mohammed, Islam,  spread from the Arabian peninsula through the eastern Mediterranean and on to North Africa and into Spain.  The peoples of Arabia were thus exposed to ancient Hellenistic culture, and they incorporated much of this learning into the new societies they established.  However, they did more than simply preserve ancient texts.  They expanded and broke new ground in many fields, and were especially proficient in mathematics and astronomy.  We owe our number system to the Arabs, both its appearance (Arabic numbers) and its functionality (incorporating the concept of zero).  Further, they developed a method of calculation which we call algebra, a vital component in modern science.  Their skill in geometry is evident from the intricate decorations shown above - a development stemming from the Islamic stricture against portraying an image of the human form.  The impact of Islamic culture on astronomy is immense.  The names of the bright  stars (e.g., Betelgeuse, Vega, Aldebaran, Deneb) are Arabic.  Many common astronomical terms (azimuth, altitude, zenith) and mathematical terms (zero, algorithm)  are also Arabic in origin.   Interesting aspects of Islamic science can be found on this website.