Scientific Revolution

1. Garratt – Chap 6 Scientific Revolution

2. Changing Idea: Scientific Method Old Science New Science In time, scholars began to use observation, experimentation, & scientific reasoning to gather knowledge & draw conclusions about the physical world • Scholars generally relied on ancient authorities, church teachings, common sense, and reasoning to explain the physical world

3. Medieval View • Before 1500 few challenged the ancient and medieval views about the world around them. • Ancient & Medieval World • Aristotle c. 300s – geocentric theory • Ptolemy expanded the theory • Christianity specifically taught that God had deliberately placed the sun at the center of the universe.

4. Scientific Revolution • By 1500s some scholars challenged these old assumptions. • New way of thinking about the natural world based on careful observation and a willingness to question accepted beliefs is known as the Scientific Rev (SR)

5. How did it begin? • Combination of discoveries & circumstances. • Exploration during Renaissance • Discoveries in the New World led to new truths • Suddenly there was a greater need for • navigational equipment, • Geographical equipment • All necessitated more research into astronomy, science and math Printing press

6. Copernicus - Heliocentric Theory • Studied planetary movements for over 25 yrs • He reasoned but didn’t prove the helio theory • Feared the Catholic church so didn’t publish his work until on his deathbed

7. Kepler • Proved Copernicus’ heliocentric theory mathematically • Showed that planets revolved around the sun in elliptical orbits.

8. Galileo • Built his own telescope • Discovered that Jupiter had 4 moons • Sun has dark spots • Shattered Aristotle’s and the Church’s theory • His research supported Copernicus Simplicitus) • Stood trial before the Inquisition • Confessed and recanted • House arrest until death

10. Galileo Inquisition & House Arrest

11. Scientific Method

12. Frances Bacon • English statesman & author • Urged scientists to experiment and draw conclusions. • This approach is known as: • Empiricism or experimental approach

13. Descartes • Developed analytical geometry which was new tool for scientific research • Approached research differently than Bacon • Rather than experimentation he relied on mathematical data & logic. • Believed everything should be doubted until proven • Only think he believed was that he existed. • “I think, therefore I am”

14. Isaac Newton • Universal law of gravity • Every object in the universe attracts every other object • Degree of attraction is based on mass of objects and distance between them. • Saw universe as a giant clock which worked perfectly & could be explained mathematically. • Believed God was the clockmaker

15. Scientific Instruments • Janssen, 1590, 1st microscope • Leeuwenhoek, 1670s micoscope • Torricelli, 1643 Mercury barometer • Fahrenheit Thermomter • Celsius, 1742 Thermometer

16. Medicine & the Human Body • Vasalius, 1543, dissected human corpse & provided 1st-hand drawings • Jenner, late 1700s, used cowpox to develop the world’s 1st vaccine. • Boyle, 1661, chemist who disproved Aristotle’s idea that the physical world consisted only of 4 elements. • Introduced Boyle’s law

17. Conclusion • Reason, order, experimentation, mathematical proofs challenged old assumptions. • Philosophers now looked at the gov & the rights and liberties of individuals • Challenged the age-old relationship between citizens & gov • Ushered in a new period known as the Enlightenment.