Ha this was the intro I wrote to a blog I was gonna do... gave up on that idea quick...

You may ask, what is a Renaissance Woman?  What does it really mean?  Well, that is a question that needs a little background information.

Now, do you remember in Elementary School or Junior High when you learned about the Renaissance?  Allow me to refresh your memory... The Renaissance was a period of time between 1200 A.D. and 1600 A.D. where Europe went through a massive philosophical and social change.  Europe was just coming out of the Middle ages which had dealt with conflicts over land and wealth, deep poverty, and wealthy nobles.  When the Renaissance started there had at last been an emergence of a stable middle class, which fed the spreading of education and the arts to all.  This was the time of the great masters Dante, Duccio, Bellini, Bottecelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, and probably the most well known, Leonardo Da Vinci.  Along with the Renaissance also came a new interest in the arts and sciences of the ancient past.  Greek plays where performed, Roman architecture was incorporated, and the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle where spoken of in social discussions.  The Europeans had started exploring and gaining enlightenment in a vast array of subjects. 

The term 'Renaissance Man' was and is used to describe a person who has experience and knowledge in a wide variety of subjects.  Leonardo Da Vinci is a wonderful example of this.  He studied, not only art, but the human body, the night sky, the properties of substances around him, history, plants, and almost anything he could get his hands on.  For his time he probably had the equivalent of a Masters degree in Human Anatomy, Biology, Chemistry, History, Art, and Astronomy.  His whole life was dedicated to feeding his curiosity about the things around him. 

In the modern day we have many people who have an understanding about many subjects.  Just look at what the public school system has done for society.  We start young in learning mathematics, literature, art, science, and social studies.  Therefore I believe that the title of being a Renaissance learner has socially risen.  I believe that to be a Renaissance learner you don't need a degree in a variety of subjects, you don't need to go through formal training, you don't even need a teacher.  All you need is a love of learning, and the effort to use all of the tools so freely given, that are full of knowledge.  Look around, there are libraries, the internet, friends and family, all of them resources for answering questions and exploring the world around us.  On this blog I will be exploring a subject every week in all sorts of fields, but with a slight focus on the sciences.  I hope that this can be a source by which you will have fun learning for learning's sake, but also I hope that this will be a jumping off point for you to explore beyond and further your own education.  Just remember, knowledge is the only thing that goes with us everywhere. 

Thanks for reading,
Lyn the Small

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