Answer:
Hellenistic scientists made advances in mathematics and astronomy.
What was the greatest contribution of the Hellenistic period?
In Europe during the time of Ficino's birth, there were thousands of manuscript volumes, and getting your hands on these rare books was still a challenge. Chains were frequently used to fasten books to their shelves in libraries. However, there were at least 10 million volumes in circulation by the time Ficino passed away in 1499 and presses were operating at 200–300 locations across Europe. A private collector may easily have a thousand or more books. In 1454, when Ficino was still a young man, Gutenberg had printed his renowned bible using the first press with movable and interchangeable type. This new technique led to a flood of books as well as the beginnings of widespread literacy. The book had been let free by Gutenberg and his fellow printers.
Scepticism and Epicureanism, two of the traditional opponents of Aristotelian thought that had been submerged for more than a century, provided the majority of the inspiration for what was starting to be regarded as the "new philosophy." In the 16th and 17th centuries, few thinkers identified as Epicureans or Skeptics. However, these antiquated Hellenistic theories, which are now readily available, were guiding them in new ways.
Diogenes Laertius' Lives of the Philosophers, which included his biography of the first great Sceptic, Pyrrho, and books by Cicero that defended the more moderate form of scepticism once practiced in the Athenian Academy were among the antiquated works discovered in the late 16th century and translated into Latin. "Since Ptolemy was previously erroneous regarding his essential ideas, would it not be unwise to follow what moderns are saying now," wrote the writer Montaigne (1533-92).
Thank you,
Eddie
