The Art of Renaissance Science [VHS]

The Art of Renaissance Science: Galileo and Perspective by Joseph W. Dauben Prof. of History and the History of Science Lehman College City University of New York Ph.D. Program in History Graduate Center, City University of New York Prof. Joseph W. Dauben discusses the life of Galileo, the origin of perspective drawing and the interaction of art and science in the Renaissance. His presentation includes dozens of examples from Renaissance painting, sculpture and architectural drawing including the works of Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Leonardo DaVinci. Brunelleschi's famous discovery of linear perspective using mirrors and the Baptistry of the Cathedral in Florence is illustrated with overlays showing the horizon line and the vanishing points. Computer graphics are used to recreate the inclined plane and Tower of Pisa experiments of Galileo. Dauben explains how these experiments allowed Galileo to formulate his revolutionary mathematical theory of the behavior of falling bodies. Dauben concludes by discussing the influence of Galileo's scientific work on the artists of his time.