The Scientific Revolution

Mr. XRoom 242

World History

The Scientific Revolution

• These changes also affected what Europeans held as “real” and how they measured knowledge

• These new approaches would also affect religion, society, and politics

• The changes began in astronomy, then math, physics, and medicine

Medieval Scientific Theory• Believed in an

universe governed by God’s will, not fundamental laws.

• Man and his planet are at the center of everything.

The New Scientific Method

• Experiments to test theories.

• Observation, recording results, proving results through research.

Nicholaus Copernicus, 1473-1543• Devoted thirty years

to astronomical observation

• Theorized a heliocentric universe (sun-centered)

Copernicus was a physician,

economist, lay minister, and an

amateur astronomer

• Feared condemnation so held off publishing until he was on his deathbed

Copernicus is proven right• Tycho Brahe (Danish

astronomer) accumulated huge amounts of data from many years of observations.

• His assistant, Johannes Kepler (German), used his data to support Copernicus’s theory.

Brahe actually wanted to prove

Copernicus wrong, but Kepler used

Brahe’s research to prove him right!

Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)

• First to really use a telescope

• like Kepler, he helped prove Copernicus’s theory

• Condemned to house arrest by papacy for heresy Galileo studied

medicine, natural philosophy & mathematics

It does move!!

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

His “discoveries” spannedPhysics (laws of motion and gravity)

Math (invented calculus)AstronomyPhilosophyAlchemy

Newton spent his later years studying

theology

Sir. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• “If I have been able to see farther than others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.”

• Nature followed laws!….. laws of gravity, laws of motion….in 1687 he published - Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Newton was a member of

Parliament and knighted by the

queen

The Three Laws of Motion, 1666• An object in motion tends to stay in

motion, while an object at rest tends to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force

• When a force is applied to an object, it accelerates according to the equation a = F/m

(a=acceleration,F=force,m=mass)

• to every action there exists an equal and opposite reaction

TruthTruth is not known at the beginning of inquiry

but at the end, after a long process of investigation.

• French natural philosopher “I think, therefore I am”

• Discourse on Method (1637): argued that only logic and mathematics are certain

• Deductive Method: Science begins in the mind with the hypothesis

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

Scientific Revolution Summary

• Medieval & early Renaissance Europe believed in a geocentric universe

• Copernicus and Galileo’s early challenges met with religious disapproval

• Descartes helps establish keys to the scientific methods

• By 1700, Newton and his peers began to enjoy a fully scientific culture