The Scientific Revolution
 1300-1600:
 Renaissance
 Reformation
 Scientific Rev.
 Scientists = uncover the questions of
universe thru experiments & math
 Prior reasoning = GOD & spirits
 Nothing was an accident
 This faded
I. Experiments & Mathematics
 Early ideas of universe = ancient Greeks &
Romans
 Humanists discovered contradictions
 Began to make other observations
 Early 1500s: began to experiment
 Described nature w/out reference to previous
beliefs
 Principle of Doubt
 Scientific Rev. (1500s – 1600s)
 Scientists had access to new instruments
 Barometer, microscope, thermometer
 Scientific Method (logical procedure for
gathering & testing ideas)
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Problem or question
Hypothesis
Tests/experiments
Analysis to reach conclusion
II. Astronomy, Physics, & Anatomy
 A. Copernicus
 Earth = center of the universe?
 All celestial bodies moved in perfect circular paths around
Earth?
 Common sense supported this, right?
 Also, God placed Earth at the center?
 Originated w/Aristotle (4th cent. BCE), and expanded by
Ptolemy (2nd cent. CE)
 “Geocentric Theory” (Ptolemy)
 Nicolaus Copernicus developed the “Heliocentric Theory”
 1543: published findings (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Bodies)
 Few accepted it – he could not test/prove theory
B. Kepler & Galileo
 Johannes Kepler:
 used math to test Heliocentric Theory
 Calculated the problem many times
 Orbits = NOT exact circles, they were ellipses
 Only mathematicians understood until…
 Galileo Galilei discovered concrete evidence
 1609: created a telescope to see heavens
 Details of moon
 Sunspots
 Discovered moons orbiting around Jupiter (disproved
Geocentric Theory of Ptolemy)
 1610: published Starry Messenger
 Galileo’s findings frightened Church leaders
 1616: Church warned Galileo
 1632: published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World
Systems
 Galileo supported Heliocentric Theory
 1633: Pope summoned Galileo to Rome
 Inquisition – he renounced ideas of Copernicus
With sincere heart & unpretended faith I abjure, curse, and detest
the aforesaid errors & heresies [of Copernicus] & also every
other error contrary to the Holy Church, & I swear that in the
future I will never again say or assert…anything that might
cause a similar suspicion toward me.
--Yet the earth does move.
 Galileo was never again a free man
 1992: Catholic Church acknowledged
Galileo was right
C. Bacon & Descartes
 Rene Descartes—Fr. Philosopher & scientist
 One should question all assumptions
 Discourse on Method (1637) –everything had to
be proved except basic ideas
 EX: b/c he could think proved his existence
I think, therefore I am.
 “Father of Modern Philosophy”
 Also, a great mathematician:
 Created the Cartesian coordinate system
 “Father of Analytical Geometry”
 Francis Bacon—English philosopher
 Urged scientists to experiment & then draw
conclusions
 Empiricism (experimental method)
D. Newton
 Isaac Newton—developed theory of motion
 Published Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy
 Laws of motion & gravitation (explained
movements of objects on earth as well as other
planets)
Nature & Nature’s laws lay hid in night; God
said, ‘Let Newton be!,’ and all was light.
--Alexander Pope
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E. Scientific Instruments
Zacharias Janssen—microscope
Anton van Leeuwenhoek—discovered bacteria
Robert Hooke—discovered cells
Evangelista Torricelli—developed barometer
Gabriel Fahrenheit—first thermometer (32°)
Anders Celsius—different scale (0°)
Joseph Priestly—discovered oxygen
 Elements = fundamental substances that make up matter
 Antoine Lavoisier—fire is NOT an element
 Also: matter is indestructable
F. Medicine & the Human Body
 Andreas Vesalius—dissected corpses
 On the Structure of the Human Body
 Details of human organs, bones, muscle
 Edward Jenner—introduced vaccine to
prevent smallpox (cowpox)
G. Discoveries in Chemistry
 Robert Boyle—founder of modern chemistry
 The Sceptical Chymist (1661)
 Aristotle = world is made up of four elements?
 NO, it’s made up of many smaller particles
 Boyle’s Law = explains how volume, temp., &
pressure of gas affect each other