The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800

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The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800

• SC/STS 3760 (6.00)
• York University
• Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Science Technology Studies Program

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Course Director

• Professor Byron Wall
• Office Room 218, Norman Bethune College
• Telephone [phone], ext. 20559
• Email bwall_at_yorku.ca
• Website www.yorku.ca/bwall

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Course website

• www.yorku.ca/bwall/sts3760
• Consult the website for general information,
  special announcements, lecture notes, schedule of
  assignments, supplementary materials, interim
  marks, etc.

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The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800

• This course is about the remarkable development
  of scientific ideas that occurred in the 16th,
  17th, and to a lesser extent in the 18th
  centuries.

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A Revolution the cosmos

• Prior to the scientific revolution the accepted
  view of the world was that the Earth was in the
  centre of the universe and was immobile while all
  of the heavens, including the stars and the
  planets revolved around the Earth daily.
• After the scientific revolution, the Earth was
  seen as a planet circling the Sun.

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A Revolution authority

• Prior to the scientific revolution the
  authority for determining knowledge about the
  world was either the philosophers, Aristotle in
  particular, or at least the followers of
  Aristotle (Aristotelians) or it was religious
  leaders.
• After the scientific revolution, at least in
  Europe, science became the final authority for
  explaining Nature.

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A Revolution humanity

• Prior to the scientific revolution human beings
  were regarded as having a special place in
  creation, lower than the angels, but higher, and
  totally different, from all other life. Humanity
  had a special role as caretakers of Gods
  creation, and life on Earth was a proving ground
  for a more important existence that came
  afterward.
• After the scientific revolution, the process was
  started (but not carried through until after
  Darwin) of seeing human beings as merely one of
  the many species of Nature and not necessarily
  different in kind from the rest of creation.

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The Major Characters

• Copernicus Defying common sense, characterized
  the Earth as in orbit around the Sun.
• Tycho Brahe Set a new standard in precise data
  that scientific models must account for.
• Johannes Kepler Found a compact mathematical
  formula to describe planetary motions.
• Galileo (a) Sold the Copernican system to the
  general public, and (b) Provided a methodology
  for establishing scientific theories.
• René Descartes Provided the basis for a
  thorough going mechanistic model and mathematical
  tools to describe it.
• Isaac Newton Created the grand synthesis of the
  new science, which effectively displaced
  Aristotle.

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Other notables Biology Medicine

• Andreaus Vesalius Revived anatomy with an
  illustrated textbook.
• Paracelsus Overthrew the authority of ancient
  medical treatises in favour of a fresh approach
  to fighting specific diseases.
• William Harvey Discovered the function of the
  heart and the circulation of the blood.
• Marcello Malpighi Examined the development of
  life before birth (embryology)

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Other notables Matter and Mystery

• Robert Boyle Provided a mechanist basis for
  chemistry.
• William Gilbert Explored attractive forces,
  such as magnets.
• Robert Hooke Clarified the idea of a scientific
  experiment.
• Anton van Leeuwenhoek Discovered tiny forms of
  life with his microscope.

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Communications

• Francis Bacon Became the spokesperson for the
  new philosophy (of observation).
• Marin de Mersenne Served as a communication
  network with his extensive correspondence with
  scientific minds all across Europe.
• The Royal Society of London Became the model
  for a scientific society where people shared and
  discussed new ideas about Nature.

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The plan of this course

• In the fall term and perhaps into the beginning
  of the winter term, we will examine the life and
  work of some of the major figures in the
  scientific revolution in order to gain a good
  overview of the main developments that made the
  revolution.
• In the winter term, we will re-examine these
  works and people and also a good number of the
  lesser players with a more critical eye toward
  understanding what happened and why.

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The texts in use (1)

• The books that we will study and discuss in class
  in roughly the order taken up are
• Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution a study
  of the transformation of astronomy from the
  ancient world view of an Earth-centered universe
  to the Sun-centered concept of Copernicus. First
  the ancient viewpoint, then the corrections
  proposed by Copernicus, and finally, the
  transformation of understanding brought about by
  the general acceptance of the implications of
  Copernicus work.

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The texts in use (2)

• Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers. The subject
  matter of Koestlers book is essentially the same
  as Kuhns text, namely the Copernican Revolution,
  but Koestlers emphasis is on Johannes Kepler
  rather than Copernicus. The main part of the book
  is a fascinating biographical study of this
  extraordinary character from the scientific
  revolution.

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The texts in use (3)

• Galileo, Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo,
  translated and edited by Stillman Drake. This
  work collects together some of the important
  minor writings of Galileo, such as The Starry
  Messenger, Letters on Sunspots, The Assayer, and
  The Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, which
  got Galileo into trouble with the Church. About
  half of this book is Drakes commentary on each
  of the components. This provides an excellent
  introduction to this critical character in the
  history of science.

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The texts in use (4)

• Byron Wall, Glimpses of Reality Episodes in the
  History of Science. This is my own survey text in
  the history of science. I will assign selected
  chapters from this work to fill in gaps that are
  not covered in the other textbooks. You do not
  need to buy this text (though you certainly
  may!). There are several copies in the Steacie
  Science Library and I will make the assigned
  readings available on line through the course
  website.

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The texts in use (5)

• James Gleick, Isaac Newton. Isaac Newton is the
  most important single person in the Scientific
  Revolution, so we should learn a fair bit about
  him and his work. Gleicks work is a biography of
  Newton with a fair emphasis on Newtons actual
  scientific work. We will go through it carefully
  and discuss it in class.

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The texts in use (6)

• John Henry, The Scientific Revolution and the
  Origins of Modern Science. This fairly short book
  is one mans view of the whole of the scientific
  revolution and how it did what it did. It gives
  one persons view of how it all came together and
  what is important and what not in his considered
  opinion. It will help us see the whole period as
  a unit.

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The texts in use (7)

• Margaret J. Osler, ed., Rethinking the Scientific
  Revolution. This is another work that looks at
  the period of the scientific revolution and
  re-evaluates it from the point of view of
  historians. However, this is an edited work.
  Every chapter is by a different author, so we
  will get a wide variety of opinion to consider
  and debate.