During these times in Europe, many restrictions were on the sciences and what could and what could not be researched, done, or experimented upon. Many of these restrictions originated from the Church and their influence upon the world. The Church had very specified, and firm beliefs in varying aspects of science, including species origination, astronomy, and much more. At the same time, the Church was also a key player in the politics and power of Europe, which in turn allowed them to set guidelines to scientists across their reign, restricting numerous people. Many people disagreed with the Church's ideas, and pleaded with them to open up their eyes, but they did not (Doc. 2). If the Church had not obtained such power and control, such as in todays world, then they would not have been able to stop these scientific advancements and research as they did so effectively. Granted, the Church is still a major player in the complex global political scheme of today, it no longer is able to constrict scientific minds as it once could.
One of the most commonly mentioned European astronomers, among other professions, was Galileo Galilee. Galileo was a man who thoroughly researched a heliocentric world, which was at constant conflict with the current times beliefs. At this time, the Church believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe, with the sun and other entities rotating around it. This was a firm belief of the church, one which they were not lenient with, and wanted Galileo to abide to (Doc. 3) The Church was a strong figure in Galileo's time, tightly linked with many powerful leaders and countries. If the Church's ideas where questioned, then the people would begin to question other aspects of them, resulting in a loss of power that they would not allow. All of these powerful people were interested in what Galileo was doing, and what he discovered, and encouraged it, as long as it did not hinder their power (Doc. 7). Now, back to the present, their are still laws restricting certain fields of science, but they are much less controlling, allowing for more work to be done by scientific minds. Galileo could not research his ideas on astronomy as much as he wished, due to the fact that he was given barriers that he could not fully overcome. If he was present in the scientific world of today, he would have been able to further his scientific mind so much further, only benefiting the world with his ideas.
Galileo was not the only scientist who was restricted by his time, nor the last. A large group of scientific minds that were available in this time were all excluded, because they were women. In this time women were effectively second hand citizens, and were not able to participate in the scientific field. These men simply disregarded the entire female gender (Doc. 9) It was socially acceptable in this time to leave women out of nearly all things that were considered "man's work", which included the sciences. In today's world, women are accepted in most modern societies as equals, but not entirely. However, today they have the potential to participate and cooperate to better this world with their scientific minds that were once repressed in the past due to conflicting powers, or religious ideals. If all humankind were able to accept one another, and work together bettering the world, they could achieve so much more (Doc. 6)
It has been shown that many factors had affected scientists in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, including political, religious, and social factors. These people were at constant disadvantages due to the beliefs at the time of what is right and what is wrong, and the blindness to what needed to be changed in the world. If these scientists had not been bound to these laws and beliefs of the time, their potential to invent, research, and discover would have grossly increased, bettering the world through it.
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