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Discoveries were not accepted because peoples belief in Antiquity was too strong, and the church wouldn't allow it. People were simply afraid to question Aristotle, Ptolemy, Plato and the other ancient people for fear of being seen as an outcast. In the case of religion, curiosity was an original sin so people stayed away from finding information out. Leonardo De Vinci is an example. He sets out to draw the anatomy of the human body, but he comes across a part of the body he thinks isn't right, so he refers to Galen's book on the subject and trusts that over what he sees with his own eyes. At this time and in later years people would challenge antiquity and slowly through the years start to challenge the church. Aristotle's theory on how the earth moved was a major idea challenge, but no one would accept the challenge even when Copernicus mathematically proved Aristotle was wrong. There was just too much uncertainty and belief in the Ancient ways. Ptolemy's ideas were viewed correct hundreds of years after they were proven wrong. Curiosity was increasing and science was expanding, so the church had to relax its stance on science. Christophe Columbus even after his discovery of the New World was laughed at, and wasn't believed. As time went on the church relaxed its stance and people started straying away from antiquity. Although there were those die-hards who lived in the present, but wished they were in the past who wouldn't release their hold on the ancient world. Interest in the plant an animal world increased. People started collecting and building cabinets of curiosity. Many of these curiosities were opened up because of the Reformation, which opened peoples eyes to new ideas and beliefs. Even still people stayed with the old ways, and part of this was because of the humanists who were constantly questioning the authenticity of everything. In later times Galileo would question Aristotle and prove his theories wrong, even though he was sometimes inconsistent. Debus states that "With Galileo, criticism of Aristotle and the scholastic tradition had become far more sophisticated". He is saying here that the methods used to test his theories were becoming more legit. Another problem in accepting the legitimacy of European discoveries was simply language. Texts were often translated into many different languages so how would one know if it was translated properly, and because of this people didn't want to believe new discoveries because they could be false. The church was also a major part in people believing these discoveries. Galileo's ideas were not allowed unless he would state beforehand that these ideas were simply a hypothesis. When he started stating his ideas were fact, he was killed and his ideas would die with him until a later time. Mathematics was also in question. Debus says that "Mathematics had the effect of a double-edged sword". The new interest in mathematics further developed mathematical approach to nature and helped improve geometry and algebra. Mathematic discoveries also resulted in oculist investigations related to number mysticism. People were just too afraid to challenge the church and antiquity. Regardless of what one saw before his own eyes, it was still in question.

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