Toward a New Worldview

1
Toward a New Worldview

• The Scientific Revolution

2
Scientific Thought in 1500

• The Aristotelian/Ptolemaic Universe
• Geocentric
• 10 separate, transparent, crystal spheres
• First 8 held the moon, sun, planets, stars
• 2 added during Middle Ages
• Heaven lay beyond the 10th sphere
• Angels kept the spheres moving
• Sublunar world
• Earth, water fire, air
• Uniform force moved objects until something
  stopped it
• The Church invested greatly in this world-view
• The Scientific Revolution would change everything!

3
The Geocentric (Ptolemaic) Universe
The Geocentric Universe
4
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

• Polish monk
• Observed patterns of star and planet movement
• Heliocentric Model
• On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies (1543)
• Called into question the literal truth of the
  Scriptures
• Copernicus waited until he was near death to
  publish his findings

5
The Heliocentric (Copernican) Universe
6
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

• Italian scientist
• Improved the telescope
• Made observations that proved the Copernican view
  of the universe
• Moon
• Planets
• Stars
• Sunspots
• Wrote in the vernacular
• 1633 Church forced Galileo to recant placed
  under house arrest

7
Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany
(1615)

• Written to address the conflict between the Bible
  and heliocentric theory
• Argued that the Bible must be interpreted in
  light of scientific knowledge
• Argued for a non-literal interpretation of the
  Bible
• Galileo declared the Bible teaches how to go to
  heaven, not how the heavens go
• The letter began Galileos troubles with the
  Catholic Church

8
René Descartes (1596-1650)

• French mathematician and philosopher
• A transitional figure between the medieval past
  and modern science
• A rationalist
• Promoter of deductive reasoning, predicting
  particular results from general principles

9
Discourse on Method (1637)

• Descartes wished to develop a method that could
  be used to yield scientific truth
• Argued that abstract reasoning and math were a
  more reliable path to truth our senses could
  deceive us
• Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am)

10
Other Inventions

• Laws of Gravity - Newton
• Microscope invented
• Internal medicine explored
• Chemistry
• Empirical Study ( later called the Scientific
  Method) test and test again!
• The Printing Press perfected
• Sailing Technology

11
Significance of the Scientific Revolution

• The universe was comprehensible for the first
  time.
• Collective authority was not the source of
  wisdomindividual intellect was.
• God was viewed by many as either a remote master
  mechanic or his existence began to be doubted.
• Began long adversarial relationship between
  science and religion
• This revolution was taken up by political
  philosophers

12
Nobel Prize for Science

• Write a nominating speech for the scientist that
  you believe is qualified.