Scientific Revolution

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What was the Scientific Revolution?

• Refers to historical changes in thought and belief in the world of science that unfolded in Europe between roughly 1550-1700

• Began with Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), who asserted a heliocentric (sun-centered) universe

• Ended with Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who proposed universal laws of gravity and motion

Where did previous knowledge come from?

• Medieval scientists, known as “natural philosophers,” did not make observations of the world and nature so much as relied on ancient authorities, especially Aristotle, for their scientific knowledge

• Renaissance humanists studied the newly discovered works of ancient thinkers like Ptolemy, Archimedes, Plato

• Technical problems, like calculating how much weight a ship could hold, spurred a movement towards observation and measurement

• New instruments like the telescope and microscope made fresh observations and discoveries possible

• Printing spread ideas more quickly than ever before

Ptolemy• 90 -168 was a Roman citizen of

Egypt who wrote in Greek• Ptolemaic System: Medieval

philosophers constructed a geocentric-Earth is at the center-universe

• Universe was a series of concentric spheres with a motionless Earth in the middle

• Insisted that the orbits were circular

Nicolas Copernicus 1473-1543

• 1543-Published his famous work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

• Believed his heliocentric -with the Sun in the center- system was more accurate than the Ptolemaic system

Nicolas Copernicus

• Argued that all the planets revolved around the sun, the Moon revolved around Earth, and Earth rotated on its axis

• In the Copernican system, the heavens were not spiritual but material, and God was no longer in a specific place

Tycho Brahe 1546 - 1601

• Born into nobility in Denmark • Lost nose in duel at the age of

20 so had metal prosthesis• King Frederick II gave him an

island, Hven, and he built an observatory on it

• Improved methods and accuracy in observations

• Observed the sky every night for years

Tycho Brahe

• Kept voluminous records• Provided evidence that

supported Copernicus’s theory• Accurately catalogued over

1000 stars• Showed irregularities in moon’s

orbit• His data provided the basis for

the work of Johannes Kepler

armillary

azimuthal

The Moose and Jepp

• Brahe kept a dwarf named Jepp (whom he believed to be clairvoyant) as a court jester who sat under the table during dinner.

• He kept a pet moose. His prized companion met a tragic end, falling downstairs after drinking beer at a banquet.

Brahe/Kepler

• Brahe hired a student named Johannes Kepler to assist him

• Brahe realized Kepler’s potential as an astronomer

• Because Brahe did not trust Kepler, he was only shown part of the data

• Kepler used Brahe’s data as the basis for his research

Johannes Kepler 1571-1630

• German mathematician- helped destroy the Ptolemaic system

• Used Brahe’s data to calculate the orbits of the planets revolving around the sun.

• Observations confirmed that the Sun was at the center of the universe

• Tracked the elliptical not circular orbits of the planets (unlike Ptolemy

who insisted the

orbits were circular)

Galileo Galilei 1564 -1642

• Italian scientist and mathematician

• Heard of a new Dutch invention-the telescope- improved upon it and then pointed it toward the sky

• Saw mountains on the Moon and the four moons orbiting Jupiter

• Concluded the earth moves around the sun as Copernicus had said

Galileo Galilei

• Discoveries contradicted the Catholic Church

• The Church asked Galileo to abandon the Copernican-heliocentric- idea of the universe

• Galileo was accused of heresy and in 1633 was tried before the Inquisition

• Faced with death he recanted his beliefs but spent the rest of his life under house arrest

Galileo sits before the Inquisition in Rome

Allegedly said by Galileo after signing a recantation of the Copernican theory and accepting the church’s claim that the Earth was the center of the universe and unmoving

"And yet ... it moves."

Philosophy

How is truth determined?

Reason-Descartes

or

Observation-Bacon?

Truth is not determined at the beginning of inquiry, but at the end

after a long process of investigation

René Descartes 1596–1650

• The father of modern rationalism (reason is the source of truth)

• 1637- Published Discourse on Method • Could be sure of only one thing–his own

existence: “I think, therefore I am.”• Would accept only those things his reason said

were true• The material world and the mental world were

two different realms

René Descartes

Because I have the power to reason, I exist!

I think, therefore

I am!

Francis Bacon 1561-1626

• English philosopher

• Developed the Scientific Method

• Bacon emphasized arriving at conclusions about nature using inductive reasoning, or making generalizations from particular observations and experiments organized to test a hypothesis

• Hypothesis- an educated guess

Scientific Method

Medicine and Chemistry

Andreas Vesalius 1514-1564

• 1543-Published On the Structure of the Human Body

• First accurate and detailed study of human anatomy

• Autopsies!!

• Reported his results from dissecting human bodies as a professor of surgery at the University of Padua

William Harvey 1578 -1657

• 1628- Published On the Motion of the Heart and Blood

• Described circulation of the blood for the first time

• Work was based on observation and experiment

• Showed that the heart was the beginning point of the blood’s circulation

• Heart serves as a pump to force blood through veins and arteries

You’ve gotta have

heart!

Anton van Leeuwenhoek 1632-1723

• Perfected the microscope

• First person to see cells and microorganisms

Antoine Lavoisier

The founder of modern chemistry - invented a system of naming the chemical elements

Robert Boyle 1627 -1691

• Chemistry was also based on close observation and experiment

• Identified basic building blocks of matter, opening the way for modern chemistry

Sir Isaac Newton 1643 - 1727

• Mathematics professor at Cambridge University

• Published his views in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, also known as the Principia

• Gravity is the single force that keeps the planets in their orbit around the sun

• Invented Calculus

Gravity• All motion in the universe can be measured and

described mathematically• Universal law of gravitation: every object in the universe

is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity• This explained why planetary bodies did not go off in a

straight line, but traveled in elliptical orbits• Newton gave the world a picture of the universe as a

huge, regulated, uniform machine. • This picture dominated the modern worldview until

Einstein’s theory of relativity

SummaryScientific Revolution• According to the Ptolemaic system, the universe is a series of concentric spheres

with Earth fixed at the center• The heliocentric theory stated that the sun was the center of the universe

(Copernicus)• Brahe and Kepler provided evidence to support Copernicus’ heliocentric theory• Kepler proved that the orbits of planets are elliptical, not circular• Galileo’s observations seemed to indicate that the heavenly bodies were composed

of material substance just like Earth, not pure orbs of light• The Church ordered Galileo to abandon the Copernican idea of the nature of the

universe• Rene Descartes believed that reason was the source of truth; he could be sure of

only one thing–his own existence: “I think, therefore I am.” (because I have the power to reason, I exist)

• Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, developed the Scientific Method• The scientific method was: a systematic procedure, based on collecting and

analyzing evidence and crucial to the evolution of science• William Harvey believed that the heart was the beginning point for the

circulation of blood in the body• Isaac Newton’s universal law of gravitation showed how one law, mathematically

proved, could explain all motion in the universe

With its emphasis on reasoned observation and systematic measurement, the scientific

revolution changed the way people viewed the world and their place in it

• What were some new scientific theories and discoveries?

• What were some of the effects of these new theories?

• Importance of the scientific revolution

• Emphasis on reason and systematic observation of nature

• Formulation of the scientific method

• Expansion of scientific knowledge

What do you think was the Catholic Church’s response to these developments of the

Scientific Revolution?

Scientific Method

http://www.crystalinks.com/copernicus.html