Chapter 18 – Toward a New World View

1. Chapter 18 – Toward a New World View The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment

2. Medieval World-view • religious and theological beliefs permeated human thought and activity

3. Modern World-View • Upper and comfortable classes world-view experiences a fundamental change in the 18th century abandoning religious beliefs in favor of secular and scientific perspectives • caused by the Scientific Revolution

4. Scientific Thought in 1500 • Traditional European ideas about the universe based on the ideas of Aristotle dating to the fourth century B.C. • Brought into harmony with Christian beliefs during Middle Ages to emphasis a motionless earth at the center of the universe

5. Aristotle • Aristotle's views about astronomy and physics accepted for 2000 years with only minor revisions because – • 1.) understandable, common sense explanations • 2.) it fit neatly into Christian doctrines – home for God and a place for Christian souls

6. The Copernican Hypothesis • Nicolas Copernicus (1473 – 1543) claimed the earth revolved around the sun with the sun the center of the universe • Impact: • destroys reason for believing in crystal spheres moving stars and earth; • suggests a universe of immense size • the earth is just another planet. Destroys the basic idea of Aristotelian physics.

7. From Brahe to GalileoTycho Brahe (1546 – 1601) – Danish Astronomer • Europe's leading astronomer • Built the most sophisticated observatory of his time. • Greatest contribution was his massive amount of data.

8. Johannes Kepler (1517 – 1630) • Brahe's assistant • Formulated three famous laws of planetary motion: • Planets' orbit around the sun are elliptical • planets do not move at a uniform speed in their orbits • time to revolve around the sun is related to its distance from the sun.

9. Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1643) • Italian Mathematician • Greatest achievement of the Scientific Revolution was the Experimental Method • Conducted controlled experiments to find out what actually happens • Formulated the Law of Inertia – an object stays in motion unless stopped by an external force. • Applied the experimental method to astronomy – published Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World in 1632 • Tried for heresy by Pope Urban VIII and the Papal Inquisition and imprisoned and threatened with torture until he recanted.

10. Newton's SynthesisIssac Newton (1642 – 1727) • English Physicist • Published Principia in 1687 • One of his greatest accomplishments was to integrate the astronomy of Copernicus as corrected by Kepler, with the laws of physics by Galileo in to one integrated system of astronomy through a set of mathematical laws that explain motion and mechanics. • The key feature of Newton's synthesis was the Law of Universal Gravitation – every body in the universe attracts every other body in the universe in a precise mathematical relationship where the force of attraction is proportional to the quantity of the matter of objects and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

11. Causes of the Scientific Revolution • Towering individual genius building on previous works of others. • Medieval Universities provide the framework for the new science • The Renaissance stimulated scientific progress through the discovery of the finest works of Greek mathematics – the byproduct of the Renaissance humanism's search for the knowledge of antiquity. • The patronage by wealthy business men and rulers was scientific as well as artistic and humanistic. • Problems of navigation spurred research into new instruments. • Gresham College in London focused on science and navigation • Became the center of scientific activity in England • Led to the establishment of the Royal Society of London which published scientific papers and sponsored scientific meetings. • Inventions: telescope, barometer, thermometer, pendulum clock, microscope, air pump

12. Improvements in the Scientific Method as represented in the works of – • Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) • English politician and writer • Greatest propagandist for the experimental method. • New knowledge had to be pursued through empirical, experimental research resulted in Inductive Reasoning termed Empiricism. Writings provided justification for private and public support of scientific inquiry.

13. Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) • French philosopher • Recognized the relationship between geometrical spatial figures and algebraic equations and vice versa termed Analytic Geometry provided scientists with an important tool. • Greatest achievement was the application of Deductive Reasoning to ascertain scientific laws. • Deductive Reasoning reduced all substances to matter and mind – the physical and the spiritual – termed Cartesian Dualism.

14. Together, Bacon's inductive reasoning and Descartes' deductive reasoning form the basis of the modern scientific method.

15. Some Consequences of the Scientific Revolution • The rise of a scientific community linked together by common interests and shared values with the purpose of expanding knowledge. • Introduced a new way of obtaining knowledge through theoretical and experimental methods – the modern Scientific Method. • The lack of a solid link between theoretical science and applied technology resulted in a minimal effect on the economic life and living standards of the masses until the late 18th century.

16. The Enlightenment • The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement that tied together certain key ideas and was the link between the scientific revolution and a new world-view. • Natural science and reason can explain all aspects of life. Nothing was to be accepted on faith – Rationalism brought the Enlightenment into conflict with established churches. • The idea that the Scientific Method can explain the laws of nature and human society gave birth to the Social Sciences which lead to – • Progress – the belief that it was possible for people to create a better society.

17. The Enlightenment • The Enlightenment was secular and it expanded the Renaissance focus on worldly explanations. The effect was mostly experienced by the middle class and aristocracy – no effect on the urban poor and peasants struggling to survive and who resented the attack on the traditional popular beliefs.

18. The Emergence of the Enlightenment • Writers in the generation between the publication of Newton's Principiain 1687 and the death of Louis XIV in 1715 popularized the hard to understand scientific achievements for the educated elite. Enlightenment's focus on intellectual uncertainties: • The fallacy of Aristotelian Science • The question of Religious Truth • The discovery of great cultures beyond Europe through world travel • John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding

19. Bernard de Fontenelle (1657 – 1757) • French Writer • His most famous work Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686) helped make science entertaining, witty, and easy to read. Focused on human kind making great Progress. • Contrast with Medieval and Reformation Thinkers – concerned primarily with sin and salvation • Contrast with Renaissance Humanists – emphasized worldly matters but looked back to antiquity in an attempt to equal the accomplishments of the ancients • Fontenelle – science and mathematics in his era had achieved more and intellectual Progress was possible

20. Bernard de Fontenelle (1657 – 1757 • Fontenelle brought science into conflict with religion – was cynical about organized religion and absolute religious truth. Could not present his ideas openly under the French Absolute Monarch Louis XIV • The destructive wars over religion in Europe due to the idea that religious freedom was intolerable and worth fighting over gave rise to a groups of skeptics whose writings questioned the ideology of religious conformity and the absolute certainty of religious truth – Skepticism.

21. Pierre Bayle (1647 – 1706) • French Huguenot • Fled France for the religiously tolerant Netherlands • Wrote the Historical and Critical Dictionary examining religious beliefs and persecutions • Stressed nothing can be known beyond all doubt and endorsed open-mindedness. • Bayle's skepticism was very influential.

22. The growth of world travel led Europeans to look at truth and morality in relative, not derived absolute, terms.

23. John Locke • Essay Concerning Human Understanding published in 1690 described how humans learn and form ideas, rejected Descartes' notion that humans are born with certain basic ideas, claiming humans are born with a clean slate and all ideas are derived from experience – Tabula Rasa – the environment creates understandings and beliefs. Human development is based on education and social institutions. It becomes one of the most dominant intellectual inspirations of the Enlightenment.