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Mathematicians of the 1600’s The 1600’s was a period of expansive intellectual growth in Western civilization which began during the Renaissance era. The transformation of society during the Renaissance led man to challenge archaic ideas. Changes were seen politically, economically, and socially. The Protestant Revolution advanced opposition to the Catholic Church’s political and military power and taught people to fight against the church’s oppressive control. Religion and the understanding of the Bible did not accurately explain the physical world. This inspired interest in new ideas and investigations to more accurately explain nature and to help understand the forces within and outside the world. At the core of these new scientific discoveries was the development of a new mathematics. Numerical calculations were important in areas of navigation, trade, engineering, astronomy and war. Demands increased for these computations to be performed more quickly and accurately. Mathematics was the key to knowledge and mathematicians such as Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, and Blaise Pascal made phenomenal mathematical contributions that had a profound impact on the scientific world and beyond. These contributions led