User:Kjl7c2/Science in the Renaissance

Article body
Overall: The article needs tons of citations added. There are currently very few added within the body of the text. I will be starting by building up the section on Alchemy.

Everything I have added or significantly changed is bolded.

Alchemy and Chemistry
'''While differing in some respects, alchemy and chemistry often encompassed similar goals during the renaissance period, and together they are sometimes referred to as chymistry. ''' Alchemy is the study of the transmutation of materials through obscure processes. '''Although it is often viewed as a pseudoscientific endeavor, many of its practitioners utilized widely accepted scientific theories of their times to formulate hypotheses about the constituents of matter and the ways matter could be changed.  One of the main aims of alchemists was to find a method of creating gold and other precious metals from the transmutation of base materials. ''' A common belief of alchemists was that there is an essential substance from which all other substances formed, and that if you could reduce a substance to this original material, you could then construct it into another substance, like lead to gold. Medieval alchemists worked with two main elements or "principles", sulphur and mercury. '''Paracelsus was a chymist and physician of the Renaissance period who believed that, in addition to sulphur and mercury, salt served as one of the primary alchemical principles from which everything else was made. Paracelsus was also instrumental in helping to relate chemical practices to practical medicinal use through recognition that the body operates through processes which may be seen as chemical in nature. These lines of thinking directly conflicted with many long held traditional beliefs such as those popularized by Aristotle; however, Paracelsus was insistent that questioning principles of nature was essential to continue the general growth of knowledge. '''

'''Despite its basis in what may be considered scientific practices by modern standards, chymistry as a discipline remained separated from general academia due to numerous factors until near the end of the Renaissance when it finally began appearing as a portion of some university education.  The commercial nature of chymistry at the time, along with no classical basis for the practice, were some of the contributing factors which led to the general view of the discipline as a craft rather than a respectable academic discipline. '''

Geography and the New World
In the history of geography, the key classical text was the Geographia of Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century). It was translated into Latin in the 15th century by Jacopo d'Angelo. It was widely read in manuscript and went through many print editions after it was first printed in 1475. Regiomontanus worked on preparing an edition for print prior to his death; his manuscripts were consulted by later mathematicians in Nuremberg. '''Ptolemy's Geographia became the basis for most maps made in Europe throughout the 15th Century.  Even as new knowledge began to replace the content of old maps, the rediscovery of Ptolemy's mapping system, including the use of coordinates and projection, helped to redefine the overall field of Cartography as a scientific pursuit rather than an artistic one.'''

The information provided by Ptolemy, as well as Pliny the Elder and other classical sources, was soon seen to be in contradiction to the lands explored in the Age of Discovery. The new discoveries revealed shortcomings in classical knowledge; they also opened European imagination to new possibilities. '''In particular, Christopher Columbus' voyage to the new world in 1492 helped set the tone for what would soon after become a wave of European expansion. ' Thomas More's Utopia'' was inspired partly by the discovery of the New World. '''Most maps developed prior to this period grossly underestimated the magnitude of lands separating Europe from India on a westward route through the new world; however, through contributions of explorers such as Ferdinand Magellan, efforts were made to create more accurate maps during this period. '''

Response To Partners Peer Reviews based on how suggestions may relate to my sandbox too:
The main critiques present within my partners peer reviews were to ensure that every sentence utilized a cited source, to utilize more sources overall, and to reword some sentences to make the meanings clearer to the reader. Taking these thoughts into consideration regarding my sandbox, there are several things I will consider altering. In my current draft, I do have each sentence added followed by a citation; however, I use the same citations multiple times. While this is not necessarily a problem itself, since these sources have good information, I will definitely take the reviews' advice of adding more sources into consideration as I continue to build my draft. Another aspect I will adjust is my wording and general flow in several sections. Without input specific to my draft, it is difficult to identify where other readers may have trouble with the point I am aiming to get across, but I can see that some of the wording may be confusing in the section where I describe Paracelsus' relation of chymistry to medicine. I will try to specifically reword this section to hopefully create a better flow and an easier to understand point. Additionally, I can see that adding more context information to this portion in general may help clarify the overall information as well. Lastly, while my additions do have citations, most of the rest of the article body does not. Since our job is to improve the articles, I will also aim to add some citations where possible, to sentences I have not added if I am able to find the sources where the information is from, or if I can find another source which makes the same point as is stated in the article.