Student Essay on Scholarly Life in the 16th-century

Scholarly Life in the 16th-century

Summary:   Scholarly life in the 16th Century was something of a mission or a crusade to achieve knowledge of the unknown. Like a crusade, scholarly life contained hardships but also achievements and even more importantly and sometimes most strived for, notoriety.

After reading On The Revolutions Of The Heavenly Spheres, Nicolaus Copernicus's dedication to Pope Paul III, it can be gathered that the life of a scholar was something of a mission, a crusade if you will, to achieve knowledge of the unknown. Like a crusade, scholarly life contained hardships but also achievements and even more importantly and sometimes most strived for, notoriety. Scholarly life in the 16th -century was no simple task, but a task that took much drive and ambition, and after that, a task that underwent much scrutiny from disapproving colleagues as well as outsiders.

It can be gathered that the life of a scholar was something of a mission from this piece of writing by Nicolaus Copernicus because it is stated in his own words the vigorous task that takes place when trying to make a new discovery or propose a new theory. He himself speaks of his own time and effort put forth to create a theory, written in his own words that before he could craft his theory he had to first read the righting and teachings of philosophers before him to see if his theory had even been touched upon. When found that it had, he could then move on to the considerations of his own, knowing that he now had a base with which to build on. With this came extensive study so that his thoughts and ideas could formulate into a sturdy theory, one that was backed by solid ideas. From this, it is assumed that the life of a scholar was that of extensively devoted time to their studies.

Presenting a new idea was nothing of ease, as shown by this writing by Copernicus. Introducing a new idea seemed to be more of a risk than an achievement. In this case, it took Copernicus a very long time to present his findings to the publics solely because of the scrutiny he would undergo by his predecessors. New ideas or theories seemed to be under much scrutiny simply because they were new, and perhaps challenged the ideas of those previous, whose ideas became something of a fact, at least in the minds of many who have known nothing else. This makes scholarly life seem a bit harsh, something not for the ill willed.

This is what has been perceived from On Revolutions Of The Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus about the life of a 16th-century scholar.