The Humanists of the Renaissance

The original humanists thought of mathematics as a central part of ancient philosophical wisdom. The sixteenth century mathematician giovanni battista benedetti called on aristotle's authority in proclaiming the absolute certainty of this discipline. Leonardo bruni gave the excuse that the subtleties of arithmetic and geometry are not worthy to absorb a cultivated mind. But for the most part, humanists were eager to study manuscripts of archimedes, euclid and other ancient mathematicians. Such works took pride of place renaissance libraries.