<P> The last major event in Renaissance astronomy is the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473--1543). He was among the first generation of astronomers to be trained with the Theoricae novae and the Epitome . Shortly before 1514 he began to revive Aristarchus's idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun . He spent the rest of his life attempting a mathematical proof of heliocentrism . When De revolutionibus orbium coelestium was finally published in 1543, Copernicus was on his deathbed . A comparison of his work with the Almagest shows that Copernicus was in many ways a Renaissance scientist rather than a revolutionary, because he followed Ptolemy's methods and even his order of presentation . In astronomy, the Renaissance of science can be said to have ended with the works of Johannes Kepler (1571--1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564--1642). </P> <P> With the Renaissance came an increase in experimental investigation, principally in the field of dissection and body examination, thus advancing our knowledge of human anatomy . The development of modern neurology began in the 16th century with Vesalius, who described the anatomy of the brain and other organs; he had little knowledge of the brain's function, thinking that it resided mainly in the ventricles . Understanding of medical sciences and diagnosis improved, but with little direct benefit to health care . Few effective drugs existed, beyond opium and quinine . William Harvey provided a refined and complete description of the circulatory system . The most useful tomes in medicine, used both by students and expert physicians, were materiae medicae and pharmacopoeiae . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 . Thomas More's Utopia was inspired partly by the discovery of the New World . </P>

What was the most important scientific discovery during the renaissance