In The Anatomy of Plants, published in 1682, the English physician Nehemiah Grew used the microscope to show that plants have distinct internal structures with functions, rather than being uniform masses. Before this, many thinkers doubted that plants had organs at all. Grew described sap circulating through plants, much as William Harvey had described blood circulating in animals, and he identified the stamen as the male organ and pollen as the seed-bearing element. He also noticed the small cell-like bladders in plant tissue, a term Robert Hooke had coined. His work included illustrated plates showing folded flower buds that had never been seen with the naked eye. Grew approached plants as machines whose natural processes could be explained without invoking hidden forces.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.