There have been many attempts to assign a precise date to the beginnings of the literary renaissance—as, for instance, 1453, the year in which Byzantium was captured by the Turks, and the treasures of its library scattered throughout Europe. But it is a futile task; the renaissance did not come overnight; but was a slow development of centuries.

It is the same with the renaissance of the scientific spirit, with which we shall be concerned in the present chapter. This revived only gradually after its thousand-year torpor. But if we had to select a single year, a good deal could be said for 1452, the year preceding that just mentioned. For in this year was born Leonardo da Vinci, whom many hail as having been the first scientist to disentangle his thought from all the confused and erroneous ideas of the Middle Ages, and to approach the study of nature in a truly modern spirit. With Leonardo, science adopts modern aims and modern methods. Thus it is not inappropriate to begin the present chapter with a brief mention of this truly extraordinary man.

leonardo da vinci (1452–1519). His birthplace lies near Empoli on the road from Florence to Pisa. The natural son of a Florentine lawyer, and of a common peasant girl who afterwards married a cowman, his fine appearance and engaging manner marked him out as one obviously suited to court life, and actually he was associated with the courts of Florence, Milan and Rome in turn.