Early Modern (15th-18th Century)

The popes had always had a library, but in the middle of the fifteenth century they began to collect books in a new way. Nicholas V decided to create a public library for "the court of Rome"--the whole world of clerics and laymen, cardinals and scholars who inhabited the papal palace and its environs. He and Sixtus IV provided the library with a suite of rooms. These were splendidly frescoed, lighted by large windows, and furnished with elaborate wooden benches to which most books were chained. And, unlike some modern patrons, the popes of the Renaissance cared about the books as well as about the buildings that housed them. They bought, borrowed, and even stole the beautiful handwritten books of the time. The papal library soon became as spectacular a work of art, in its own way, as the Sistine Chapel or Saint Peter's. It grew rapidly; by 1455 it had 1200 books, 400 of them Greek; by 1481, a handwritten catalogue by the librarian, Platina, showed 3500 entries--by far the largest collection of books in the Western world.

Close to the astronomy library are the archives, a collection of documents, meteorological and astronomical observations, papers and drawings related to the scientific and administrative life of the Bologna Observatory.

Anders Celsius, born in Uppsala, was one of a large number of scientists (all related) originating from Ovanåker in the province of Hälsingland.

This notebook is not a bound volume used by Leonardo, but was put together after his death from loose papers of various types and sizes.

Brain surgery is perhaps the oldest of the practiced medical arts.

Uppsala University was founded in 1477 and is the oldest of the scandinavian universities. Preserved lecture notes from the 1480's show that lectures in astronomy were given at the philosophical faculty. There is no certain evidence of a professorship in astronomy until 1593 when the university was reerected after a period of decline following the Lutheran reformation.

Astronomiae Historia contains currently more than 400 files (Web pages), which would give several thousand pages on paper when printed out. A list of nearly all files is given in the Site map. There are documents with own information, many link pages, and some Tables of Contents. To distinguish between internal and external documents, please note the URL (address) of the document as shown by your browser: All internal documents contain the string /~pbrosche/ in the URL.

Natural and Political OBSERVATIONS Mentioned in a following INDEX, and made upon the Bills of Mortality

In western society, at the end of this second millennium, science is playing a primary role. Technological innovation is occurring at a more and more rapid pace, in this society where information is becoming increasingly wide-spread and knowledge is growing. Energy and reductionism are being replaced by networks and digitalisation.

THALES, FOUNDER OF GREEK GEOMETRY (585 B.C.E.)
The birth of Greek astronomy has been attributed to Thales of Miletus. Thales brought from Egypt a number of fundamental geometric principles. Thales, an Ionian (western border of Asia Minor) who was active near the start of the sixth century bc has been credited with a number of geometric theorems. 1. A Circle is bisected by its diameter. 2. Angles at the base of any isosceles triangle are equal. 3. If two straight lines intersect the opposite angles formed are equal. 4. If two triangles have two angles and one side respectively equal, the triangles are equal in all respects. Thales was also well known for forecasting the solar eclipse, so he was also considered a scientist.