The two most significant translation movements in the Middle Ages were around 800 CE in Baghdad and around 1150 in Toledo. In fact, in a few particular periods, there was such a strong drive to acquire knowledge from other cultures that there was a whole translation movement. People often say the medieval world was parochial or insular, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Humans have always learned from other cultures. So medieval people were just as obsessed with gadgets as we are-and underneath it all was that old sense of wonder about the night sky. Also like a smartphone, it was a design classic and a status symbol some people would buy them just to show off to their friends. It could tell the time, find the direction of North, work out the height of a building, identify a star, tell the length of the day, and more. “The experimental methods that alchemists developed were the basis of modern chemistry.”Īlmost like a medieval smartphone, the astrolabe combined dozens of different functions into a single device that fit in the palm of your hand. They could use astronomy to find their location, and even figure out the size of the Earth-and they invented instruments like the astrolabe to show off their knowledge.

It gradually evolved into the first true science, as scholars studying the stars developed precise timekeeping. Seasonal changes in the heavens could be read like a calendar, helping farmers plant their crops and fixing the dates of important festivals. Since ancient times, astronomy had been a source of stories and had inspired religious belief. People have always gazed at the sky and wondered.Įverything from Stonehenge to SpaceX comes from the same sense of wonder. The more we bring the anonymous men and women of science into the light, the harder it is to claim that anyone is ever ahead of their time. This is how science really works-legions of people carrying out experiments, studying and teaching, building up data, working through ideas, and communicating them to others. No one has heard of him, but by studying math and astronomy, working on astronomical instruments, and inventing his own planetary computer called an equatorium, he made his own tiny contribution to the development of science. In The Light Ages, I write about John of Westwyk, a monk who lived in England in the late 14th century. They make great stories, these isolated geniuses ahead of their time, but telling the story of science as a parade of great men completely misrepresents how science is done. We’ve all heard the myths-Archimedes and his bath, Newton and his apple tree, Einstein at the patent office. The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science 1.

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