The Scientific Revolution

1550-1700

And new Philosophy calls all in doubt,The element of fire is quite put out;The sun is lost and the earth, an no man’s witCan well direct him where to look for it.

-John Donne

Name the planets in the Solar System…

How is the solar system organized?

How do we know this?

Answer these questions:

Geo-centric v Helio-centric

The Old View: Aristotle and Ptolemy (Ancient Greeks)

Remaining questions

What are the problems with this view?

Planets are perfect spheres

1) If the sun revolved in a perfect circle why were the seasons not equal in length?

2) If the planets all revolved around the earth in circles they why did they look nearer or farther, brighter or darker at different times of year?

3) Do the orbits of the planets form invisible fields that objects cannot pass through?

Earth is at the centerOrbital paths are perfect circles

Copernicus

• Studied at the Polish University of Krakow

• He believed the simplest explanation was the best: “At rest, in the middle of everything is the sun” 1543What question still needs to be answered?

The shape of the planets or their orbital path

Brahe and Kepler

Tycho Brahe• Built a large

observatory to study planetary motion

• Discovered a nova so the planets did not form impenetrable fields around the universe

• Comet was also observed in 1577 to further prove his point

Johannes Kepler•One of Brahe’s students formulated the laws of planetary motion•Discovered that the planets moved in an elliptical path

Galileo Galilei1. Created a telescope with a long tube and magnifying lenses

2. 1610 – discovered the 4 moons of Jupiter

7. Proved that all planets DID NOT revolve around the earth

6. Observed the landscape of earth’s moon – full of mountains, valleys and rivers

3. Observed sunspots

4. The first to pose a law of inertia

5. Popularized the Copernican theory and for that he ended up in the Inquisition and tried for his beliefs

8. Spent the remainder of his life under house arrest

“New” ScienceBy the 1650s the new science had increased in

popularity• Royal observatories, physicians colleges,

and laboratories are built– French Academie of Sciences created in 1666– English Royal Society created in 1662

• Bacon wrote that science will be the savior of humanity

• Boyle challenged Aristotle on earth, air, fire and water– Boyle’s Law: volume, temperature, and pressure of

gas affect each other• But one group is still not happy about all

this “new stuff”…Any Guesses?

The Scientific MethodA logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas

What steps do you take when you are performing a science experiment?

1. Begin with a problem or question arising from an observation

2. Form a hypothesis or unproved assumption (theory)

3. Test the hypothesis in an experiment or on the basis of data

4. Analyze or interpret their data to reach a new conclusion

5. Confirm or disprove the hypothesis

Bacon

English statesman and writer

Thought science would improve people’s lives

Attacked medieval scholars for depending on the conclusions of Aristotle

EmpiricismThe idea of experimenting and then

drawing conclusions, rather than relying on abstract theories

Descartes

First certainty was “I think, therefore I am.” But perhaps more importantly…

Second certainty was a knowledge of perfectibility. He knew that he was imperfect and that a perfect being placed that knowledge within him so…there is a God.

Instead of experimentation, he relied on mathematics and logic

Sir Isaac Newton

• An English mathematician and physicist – understand the composition of light– develop calculus– build a reflecting telescope

• Most importantly discovered the laws of motion and gravity– All objects affected equally by the same forces– Motion in the heavens linked with the motion on the earth

• God as the “clock-maker” – mechanistic universe