Renaissance technology

The relatively free flow of information transcends borders and induced a sharp rise in Renaissance literacy, learning and education; the circulation of (revolutionary) ideas among the rising middle classes, but also the peasants, threatens the traditional power monopoly of the ruling nobility and is a key factor in the rapid spread of the [[Protestant Reformation]]. The dawn of the [[Gutenberg Galaxy]], the era of mass communication, is instrumental in fostering the gradual [[democratization of knowledge]] which sees for the first time modern media phenomena such as the [[newspaper#History|press]] or [[bestseller]]s emerging.{{harvnb|McLuhan|1962}}; {{harvnb|Eisenstein|1980}}; {{harvnb|Febvre|Martin|1997}}; {{harvnb|Man|2002}} The prized [[incunable]]s, which are testimony to the aesthetic taste and high proficient competence of Renaissance book printers, are one lasting legacy of the 15th century.

The relatively free flow of information transcends borders and induced a sharp rise in Renaissance literacy, learning and education; the circulation of (revolutionary) ideas among the rising middle classes, but also the peasants, threatens the traditional power monopoly of the ruling nobility and is a key factor in the rapid spread of the [[Protestant Reformation]]. The dawn of the [[Gutenberg Galaxy]], the era of mass communication, is instrumental in fostering the gradual [[democratization of knowledge]] which sees for the first time modern media phenomena such as the [[newspaper#History|press]] or [[bestseller]]s emerging.{{harvnb|McLuhan|1962}}; {{harvnb|Eisenstein|1980}}; {{harvnb|Febvre|Martin|1997}}; {{harvnb|Man|2002}} The prized [[incunable]]s, which are testimony to the aesthetic taste and high proficient competence of Renaissance book printers, are one lasting legacy of the 15th century.

[[File:Homo Volans.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Fausto Veranzio|Veranzio]]'s 1595 parachute design titled "Flying Man"]]

[[File:Homo Volans.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Fausto Veranzio|Veranzio]]'s 1595 parachute design titled "Flying Man"]]

'''Cristallo'''

[[File:Hugh specs.jpg|frame|right|Detail of a portrait of Hugh de Provence (wearing [[spectacles]]), painted by [[Tommaso da Modena]] in 1352]]

While the use of [[glass]] for spectacles dates back to at least 1290, a critical Renaissance innovation occurred in the mid-15th century, when Venetian glassmakers developed the exceptionally clear colourless glass, ''[[cristallo]]'', made from high-purity quartz pebbles (instead of sand) and using manganese oxide as a "decolorizer" to neutralize the greenish tint caused by iron impurities. This was the "specialty" glass of the Renaissance era, a luxury product used for windows, mirrors, ships' lanterns, and lenses.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ig5XnOx4RMC&pg=PA83|pages=83–90|title=Fundamental Building Materials|last=Ward-Harvey|first=K.|date=2009|publisher=Universal-Publishers|isbn=978-1-59942-954-0}} When the first telescope was later invented during the Scientific Revolution, the first historical record of the invention did not appear in a work of natural philosophy but rather in a patent filed by a [[Hans Lipperhey|spectacle maker]].

'''Parachute'''

'''Parachute'''