The Scientific Revolution

Madnick/Global History 9

The Basics

Geographic Location: Western EuropeTime Period: 1500-1700

Science was important because it…

• was used to explain the world• challenged Church teachings• spread through Europe in books• is still used today

The Basics

Scientists used the Renaissance ideas of• Humanism- explaining the world in human

terms rather than religious ones• Realism-explaining things as they really are

• Followed the examples of Greek, Roman, and Muslim scientists

School of AthensRaphael 1509

Example of a Roman scientist

Let’s go back to…PtolemyRoman astronomer, c. 100Geocentric Theory of the Universe • planets and sun revolve around the Earth

• his theory was wrong but his thinking was right

European Scientists

Nicolas Copernicus, 1473-1543(borrowed Ptolemy’s basic idea)

Heliocentric Theory of the Universe

• all planets revolve around the sun

• wrote his theory in a book “On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres”

European Scientists

Tycho Brahe, 1546-1601Laws of Planetary Motion• planets move in elliptical

orbits around the sun

• Used telescopes, built observatories, taught young astronomers

• One of his many books was De Nova Stella

European Scientists

Galileo, 1564-1642Modern Telescope• proved Heliocentric Theory by

by observing movement of the planets

• put on trial by Catholic Church• gave up science rather than be excommunicated

European Scientists

Isaac Newton, 1642-1727Theory of Gravity

• natural force that causes objects to fall to Earth

• Also holds planets in their orbits around the sun

• invented calculus

What did they all have in common?

1. scientific explanations of the world2. used the Scientific Method

What did they all have in common?

3. challenged Church laws & teachings4. ideas spread in books -- made with a new technology called the printing press