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The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800

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Title: The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800


1
The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800
  • SC/STS 3760 (6.00)
  • York University
  • Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • Science Technology Studies Program

2
Course Director
  • Professor Byron Wall
  • Office Room 218, Norman Bethune College
  • Telephone 416-736-2100, ext. 20559
  • Email bwall_at_yorku.ca
  • Website www.yorku.ca/bwall

3
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.

4
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.

5
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.

6
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.

7
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.

8
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.

9
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)

10
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.

11
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.

12
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.

13
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.

14
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.

15
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.

16
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.

17
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.

18
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.

19
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.
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