Previous Period

There was relatively little interest expressed in the life sciences during the Middle Ages. However, several factors developed in the later medieval period that led to a renewed interest in the careful observation of nature on the part of Europeans. These factors were: the writings of the Greek philosophers whose work had been rediscovered in the late Middle Ages; the learning of Arab philosophers and physicians, which became known after the crusades; and the work of such European scholars as Roger Bacon (1220?-1292?) and Albertus Magnus (1200?-1280). All three of these groups had stressed the importance of investigating the natural world. With the close examination of nature and the striving for realism that marked the Renaissance, sciences such as anatomy and botany began to develop their modern forms. The invention of the printing press in the...