Scientific Revolution

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Scientific Revolution

• One person or institution can have a great
  influence on the course of events.
• When should one question authority?

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What was the Scientific Revolution?

• Refers to historical changes in thought and
  belief in the world of science that unfolded in
  Europe between roughly 1550-1700
• Began with Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), who
  asserted a heliocentric (sun-centered) cosmos
• Ended with Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who proposed
  universal laws and a Mechanical Universe

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Where did previous knowledge come
from?

• Medieval scientists, known as natural
  philosophers, did not make observations of the
  world and nature so much as relied on ancient
  authorities, especially Aristotle, for their
  scientific knowledge
• Renaissance humanists studied the newly
  discovered works of ancient thinkers like
  Ptolemy, Archimedes, Plato.

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• Technical problems, like calculating how much
  weight a ship could hold, spurred a movement
  towards observation and measurement.
• New instruments like the telescope and microscope
  made fresh observations and discoveries possible.
  
• Printing spread ideas more quickly than ever
  before.

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Ptolemy

• 90 -168 was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote
  in Greek
• Ptolemaic System Medieval philosophers
  constructed a geocentric-Earth is at the center.
• Universe was a series of concentric spheres with
  a motionless Earth in the middle
• Insisted that the orbits were circular.

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Nicolas Copernicus 1473-1543

• 1543-Published his famous work, On the
  Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in 1543
• Believed his heliocentric -with the Sun in the
  center- system was more accurate than the
  Ptolemaic system.

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Nicolas Copernicus

• Argued that all the planets revolved around the
  sun, the Moon revolved around Earth, and Earth
  rotated on its axis.
• In the Copernican system, the heavens were not
  spiritual but material, and God was no longer in
  a specific place

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Tycho Brahe 1546 - 1601

• Born into nobility in Denmark
• Lost nose in duel at the age of 20 so had metal
  prosthesis.
• King Frederick II gave him an island, Hven, and
  built an observatory on it.
• Improved methods and accuracy in observations
• Observed the sky every night for years

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Tycho Brahe

• Kept voluminous records
• Provided evidence that supported Copernicuss
  theory
• Accurately catalogued over 1000 stars
• Showed irregularities in moons orbit
• His data provided the basis for the work of
  Johannes Kepler

armillary
azimuthal
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The Moose and Jepp

• Brahe kept a dwarf named Jepp (whom he believed
  to be clairvoyant) as a court jester who sat
  under the table during dinner.
• He kept a pet moose. His prized companion met a
  tragic end, falling downstairs after drinking
  beer at a banquet.

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Brahe/Kepler

• Brahe hired a student named Johannes Kepler to
  assist him
• Brahe realized Keplers potential as an
  astronomer
• Because Brahe did not trust Kepler so he was only
  shown part of the data.
• Kepler used Brahes data as the basis for his
  research-

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Johannes Kepler 1571-1630

• German mathematician- helped destroy the
  Ptolemaic system
• Used Brahes data to calculate the orbits of the
  planets revolving around the sun.
• Observations confirmed that the Sun was at the
  center of the universe
• Tracked the elliptical not circular orbits of the
  planets (unlike Ptolemy who insisted the orbits
  were circular).

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Galileo Galilei 1564 -1642

• Italian scientist and mathematician
• Heard of a new Dutch invention-the telescope
  improved upon it and then pointed it toward the
  sky.
• Saw mountains on the Moon and the four moons
  orbiting Jupiter.
• Concluded the earth moves around the sun as
  Copernicus had said.

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Galileo Galilei

• Discoveries contradicted the Catholic Church
• The Church asked Galileo to abandon the
  Copernican-heliocentric- idea of the universe.
• Galileo was accused of heresy and in 1633 was
  tried before the Inquisition
• Faced with death he recanted his beliefs but
  spent the rest of his life under house arrest

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"And yet ... it moves."

• Allegedly said by Galileo after signing a
  recantation of the Copernican theory and
  accepting the churchs claim that the Earth was
  the center of the universe and unmoving.

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How is truth determined?

• Reason-Descartes or Observation-Bacon?
• Truth is not determined at the
  beginning of inquiry, but at the end
  after a long process of investigation

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René Descartes 15961650

• The father of modern rationalism (reason is the
  source of truth).
• 1637- Published Discourse on Method
• Could be sure of only one thinghis own
  existence I think, therefore I am.
• Would accept only those things his reason said
  were true.
• The material world and the mental world were two
  different realms

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René Descartes
I think, therefore I am!

• Because I have the power to reason I exist!

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Francis Bacon 1561-1626

• English philosopher
• Developed the Scientific Method
• Bacon emphasized arriving at conclusions about
  nature using inductive reasoning, or making
  generalizations from particular observations and
  experiments organized to test hypotheses
• Hypotheses- an educated guess

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Scientific Method
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Medicine and Chemistry
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Andreas Vesalius 1514-1564

• 1543-Published On the Structure of the Human Body
  
• First accurate and detailed study human anatomy.
• Autopsies!!
• Reported his results from dissecting human bodies
  as a professor of surgery at the University of
  Padua

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William Harvey 1578 -1657

• 1628- Published On the Motion of the Heart and
  Blood
• Described circulation of the blood for the first
  time
• Work was based on observation and experiment
• Showed that the heart was the beginning point of
  the bloods circulation.
• Heart serves as a pump to force blood through
  veins and arteries.

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Youve gotta have heart!
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Anton van Leeuwenhoek 1632-1723

• Perfected the microscope
• First person to see cells and microorganisms

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Robert Boyle 1627 -1691

• Chemistry was also based on close observation and
  experiment
• Identified basic building blocks of matter,
  opening the way for modern chemistry

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Sir Isaac Newton 1643 - 1727

• Mathematics professor at Cambridge University.
• Published his views in Mathematical Principles of
  Natural Philosophy, also known as the Principia.
• Gravity is the single force that keeps the
  planets in their orbit around the sun

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Sir Isaac Newton

• All motion in the universe can be measured and
  described mathematically
• Invented calculus.
• Newton gave the world a picture of the universe
  as a huge, regulated, uniform machine.

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Gravity

• Universal law of gravitation every object in the
  universe is attracted to every other object by a
  force called gravity.
• This explained why planetary bodies did not go
  off in a straight line, but traveled in
  elliptical orbits.
• Newton gave the world a picture of the universe
  as a huge, regulated, uniform machine.
• This picture dominated the modern worldview until
  Einsteins theory of relativity.

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Summary

• Scientific Revolution
• According to the Ptolemaic system, the universe
  is a series of concentric spheres with Earth
  fixed at the center.
• The heliocentric theory stated that the sun was
  the center of the universe (Copernicus).
• The Church ordered Galileo to abandon the
  Copernican idea of the nature of the universe.
• William Harvey believed that the heart was the
  beginning point for the circulation of blood in
  the body.
• Isaac Newtons universal law of gravitation
  showed how one law, mathematically proved, could
  explain all motion in the universe.
• Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, developed
  the Scientific Method
• Galileos observations seemed to indicate that
  the heavenly bodies were composed of material
  substance just like Earth, not pure orbs of
  light.
• The scientific method was a systematic
  procedure, based on collecting and analyzing
  evidence and crucial to the evolution of science.

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• With its emphasis on reasoned observation and
  systematic measurement, the scientific revolution
  changed the way people viewed the world and their
  place in it.

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• What were some new scientific theories and
  discoveries?
• What were some of the effects of these new
  theories?
• Importance of the scientific revolution
• Emphasis on reason and systematic observation of
  nature
• Formulation of the scientific method
• Expansion of scientific knowledge

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Antoine Lavoisier

• The founder of modern chemistry- invented a
  system of naming the chemical elements

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• http//www.crystalinks.com/copernicus.html

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• What do you think was the Catholic Churchs
  response to these developments of the Scientific
  Revolution?

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Scientific Method