Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution marked a pivotal shift in how scholars approach the physical world, transitioning from reliance on ancient authorities and medieval teachings to observation, experimentation, and scientific reasoning. This era saw significant figures, such as Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Bacon, and Newton, challenge long-held beliefs and propose new theories. Innovations in scientific instruments, like the telescope and microscope, alongside groundbreaking ideas in physics and medicine, paved the way for modern science and prompted a reevaluation of the relationship between individuals and government, heralding the Enlightenment.
Scientific Revolution
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Presentation Transcript
Garratt – Chap 6 Scientific Revolution
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
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.
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)
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
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
Kepler • Proved Copernicus’ heliocentric theory mathematically • Showed that planets revolved around the sun in elliptical orbits.
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
Frances Bacon • English statesman & author • Urged scientists to experiment and draw conclusions. • This approach is known as: • Empiricism or experimental approach
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”
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
Scientific Instruments • Janssen, 1590, 1st microscope • Leeuwenhoek, 1670s micoscope • Torricelli, 1643 Mercury barometer • Fahrenheit Thermomter • Celsius, 1742 Thermometer
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
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.