Thomas L. Crewse, age 10, of Ajo, Arizona, for his question:

What do they mean by the Renaissance?

This fancy name was awarded to a certain period of human history. During the Renais¬sance, Leonardo painted the famous Mona Lisa and Michelangelo adorned the Sistine Chapel, the printing press was invented and Shakespeare wrote his wondrous plays. The Renaissance was a busy time.

The word "Renaissance" means rebirth. In a small way, we get a renaissance when the sun is reborn each dawn to give us a new day. The Renaissance period of history lasted about 300 years, and it came after a long period of centuries when the countries of the Old World has been dozing. This sleepy period is called the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. Of course, the people were not really asleep. But nothing happened to change their lives and they became set in their ways. Nobody thought of improving the old feudal system of government. Nobody dared to change the wearisome old rules and regulations of everyday life.

These Dark Ages lasted until the 1300s. Then a group of mod type go aheads in Italy's city of Florence began to wake up. They were artists, brimful of talent and hungry for new ideas, new ways of doing the dreary old chores in their everyday world. The times were right for remodeling the old world and several things happened to help the new ideas along. But in those days, new ideas traveled slowly. The Renaissance took 300 years to bring all of Europe up to date.

The old feudal system of the Dark Ages was run by big landowners. Almost everybody worked on the land and there were no modern factories. The feudal barons owned the land and were the lords of the peasants who worked on it. They were the aristocrats of society, set in their ways, and nobody dared to say nay to them. At long last, the ports of Italy began trading in a big way. Their beautiful sailing ships went from country to country, trading goods and exchanging ideas. But for a while, nobody guessed that the new ideas would surely bring a lot of changes in everyday life.

Merchants, artists and craftsmen scraped a living through the Dark Ages, but the lords of the feudal system had little respect for them. Then the merchants of Florence became rich, richer than anyone. Such wealth was power, enough power to change and improve the old system. The merchants could decide what they wanted and pay for it. And the merchants of Florence wanted beauty. They encouraged Leonardo and Michelangelo, Titian and many other great artists. They paid master masons to design and construct splendid new buildings. The glorious excitement spread to other cities and countries. Writers, sculptors and inventors blossomed forth to make the Renaissance the most creative period in history.

Many of the Renaissance buildings still stand in their glory and much of the artwork still adorns our museums. Theaters still play the poetic works of Shakespeare. The re¬birth of ideas excited inventors and challenged scientists to take a closer look at the world of nature. Even the mariners were tempted to explore the impossible ocean. Histor¬ians say that the Renaissance closed about 300 years ago. Some say it never ended at all. It just grew into the Age of Science, bringing us another new world teeming with modern ideas and changing fashions, inventions and exciting discoveries.