Chapter 22.1
 What
are the causes and consequences
of the Scientific Revolution?
 How is the Scientific Revolution a change
in both science and thought?
 Who were the major contributors to the
advancement of scientific knowledge?
 Who is impacted by the Scientific
Revolution? How are those
people/groups impacted?


Prior to the 1500s,
Europeans accepted the
word of the Catholic
Church, which had based
its ideas about the
natural world on the
Bible and the often
erroneous teachings of
Greek/Roman
philosophers like
Aristotle and Ptolemy
Religious doctrine was
never questioned!

Leaders of the Scientific
Revolution would apply
ideas gained from the
Renaissance,
Reformation and Era of
Exploration
• Question!
• Explore!
• Challenge!

As a result, there was an
explosion of scientific
(and mathematically
proven) knowledge, or
a Revolution!
Rising community of intellectuals pursuing knowledge
 Rise of universities in the High Middle Ages - Science
emerged as a minor but distinct branch of philosophy in
leading universities
 Interest in the idea of human potential and progress
(humanism)
 Recovery of classical texts (mathematics)
 Navigational problems of long sea voyages in the
‘Age of Exploration’ were a cause as well.
 Renaissance pattern of patronage allowed individuals to
pursue scientific investigation

• (Galileo was supported by the Medicis)
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Aristotle put forth this view of the
universe in the 4th century B.C.
This is commonly known as the
GEOCENTRIC view where a
motionless Earth is at the center of the
universe while the moon, sun, planets,
and stars revolve around the Earth.
Notice also that it was believed that
the orbits were circular.
Ancient astronomers also believed the
Earth was composed of “heavy” elements
while the celestial bodies were composed
of completely different substances and
thus were weightless, allowing them to
orbit the Earth.
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The astronomer and
mathematician, Ptolemy (2nd
century A.D.) had worked out
complicated rules to explain
the minor irregularities in the
movement of the planets in an
attempt to mathematically
prove the GEOCENTRIC
universe.
While Ptolemy was wrong, a
positive consequence of his
work was that it allowed
stargazers and astrologers to
track the planets with greater
precision.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHUWP9
zu4W8
 (1473-1543)
 Polish monk and astronomer
 questioned Ptolemy’s complicated explanation of
planetary movements
 proposed a sun centered solar system
(heliocentric)
-planets and stars revolved around a fixed sun
 Author-On the Revolutions of the Heavenly
Spheres - published in 1543; waited to have his
work published until right before his death b/c he
feared Church persecution
His ideas are
attacked by religious
authorities;
Luther called him
“the fool who wants
to turn the whole
art of astronomy
upside down.”

A Danish nobleman and
astronomer who
received money from the
king of Denmark to build
an advanced
observatory where he
studied the stars and
planets; collecting over
twenty years of data.
 Made
detailed observations of the stars
and planets
 He could not make mathematical sense of
them
 Used the views of Aristotle and
Copernicus
• Planets revolved around the sun
• Sun and planets revolved around the
earth and moon
German astronomer- brilliant student of Brahe
Formulated the three laws of planetary motion
-orbits of the planets are elliptical rather than
circular
-Planets do NOT move at a uniform speed
in their orbits
-time it takes a planet to orbit the sun is
related to its distance from the sun
 Kepler provided sound mathematical proofs for
Copernicus’ heliocentric theory
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
Kepler’s contributions are HUGE;
he had mathematically proved the
relations of a sun-centered solar
system, aka HELIOCENTRIC
 Italian
philosopher and astronomer
• Medici family was a patron
 Viewed the physical universe as a “Book of
Nature…written in mathematical characters.”
 Improved on the telescope
• allowed him to observe the motion of the planets
and the surface of the sun and moon
 Came to accept Copernicus’ idea of a heliocentric
universe (based on observations)
 The Dialogue Concerning Two Chief World SystemsGalileo’s discussion of his ideas regarding
heliocentrism
 Galileo’s
views were challenged by the Church
• Church feared that helio-centrism would undermine its
authority and theology
• Church doctrine was based on the geocentric theory of both
Aristotle and Ptolemy’s models, as well as Scripture
 Galileo
was brought before the Inquisition
 His works and teachings were condemned and placed
on the Index of Forbidden Books
 Galileo recanted his views to avoid execution
 He was threatened with torture and excommunication
and placed under house arrest until his death
He was finally absolved by
Pope John Paul II in 1992.
It only took 500 years!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdf6I
1kZUgc
 “If
I have seen further
[than others], it is by
standing on the
shoulders of Giants.”
(Newton)
mathematician – Cambridge University
 Built on the work of Copernicus, Kepler, and
Galileo (Newtonian synthesis)
 1686 formulated the mathematics for the
universal law of gravitation
 English
• every physical body in the universe exerts a force on
every other body
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQb0Q4fDWyw
 Provided
evidence that the universe was governed by
precise mathematical relationships
 Newton
was deeply Christian (theistic) in his
thinking
 Believed the physical order “can be the effect
of nothing else than the wisdom and skill of a
powerful ever-living agent.”
 The science of Newton would lay the
foundation for much of the science of the
western world
 Newton’s
most important work
• Described universal gravitation and the three
laws of motion
• Newton showed that the motions of objects on
Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by
the same set of natural laws
• Removed any last doubts about heliocentrism
 Shares
dual credit with Gottfried Leibnitz
for developing differential and integral
calculus
 Built the first reflecting telescope
 English
politician and writer; not a trained scientist
 knowledge
comes through observation and
experimentation -SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 Allow
the “facts” to speak for themselves and draw
conclusions based on those facts
Referred to as Inductive Reasoning-EMPIRICISM
He would only believe those
things his mind told him were
true
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWH
00ugAeEc
 French mathematician
 Invented analytical geometry
 Author of Discourse on Method-
stated
that everything in the universe except
God and the human soul can be viewed
as mechanical
 Descartes believed that he could
rationally prove the existence of God
 Universal Doubt- start your research
from scratch; not based upon the faulty
foundations of others
 Was
a Dutch
spectacle-maker
associated with the
invention of the first
optical telescope.
 Jansen is sometimes
also credited for
inventing the first
truly compound
microscope

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Dutch tradesman and
scientist
Often referred to as the
Father of Microbiology
Best known for
improving the
microscope
Helped to proved wrong
Aristotle’s theory of
“spontaneous
generation”
Was the first to observe
single-celled organismscalled the “animalcules”
 Evangelista
Torricelli (Italy)
• Student of Galileo
• Developed the first mercury barometer which
measures atmospheric pressure (aids in weather
prediction)
 Gabriel
Fahrenheit (Germany)
• Created the first thermometer using mercury in
glass (1714); measured freezing at 32 degrees
 Anders
Celsius (Sweden)
• Created another scale for a mercury thermometer
• His scale measures freezing at 0 degrees
 Andreas Vesalius
(1514-1564)
 Flemish anatomist, physician and author
 Wrote On the Structure of the Human Body
 Dissected corpses of executed criminals
 Used commissioned artists to build up a wealth of
anatomical diagrams
 Overturned many of Galen’s research, which had
previously been considered unassailable
 Galen was a Roman physician, surgeon and philosopher
who lived in AD 129-199
 Edward Jenner (1749-1823)
• English scientist
• Pioneer of the smallpox vaccine
• “Father of Immunology”
 William Harvey (1578 – 1657)
• English physician
• Was the first person to describe completely and
in detail the systematic circulation and
properties of blood being pumped to the body
by the heart
 Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
• English chemist
• Pioneered the use of the
Scientific Method in
chemistry
• Author of The Skeptical Chemist
• Most known for Boyle’s Law
(describes the interaction of
volume, pressure, & temperature
of gas)
• One of the founders of modern chemistry
Boyle’s Air Pump
 Antoine
Lavoisier (1743-1794)
The “Father of Modern Chemistry”
 French nobleman

• Named oxygen and hydrogen
• Helped construct the metric system
• Put together the first extensive list of elements
• He discovered that, although matter may change its form
or shape, its mass always remains the same (Law of
Conservation of Mass).

Tried, Convicted, and guillotined during the
French Revolution’s Reign of Terror

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Creation of an international scientific community;
scholars could engage in discourse about theories and
ideas, thus expanding knowledge. (England’s Royal
Academy and the French Academy of Science)
The modern scientific method.
Few economic consequences for the masses
initially outside of navigation.
Few practical and applied consequences of the science
to improve the lives of the masses (at least not until the
Industrial Revolution).
The greatest impact was on how people thought
and believed.
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Whose ideas were the basis for Europeans’ view of the universe?
How was science classified before 1500?
Which astronomers contributed to the destruction of the geocentric view
of the universe?
Who postulated the heliocentric view of the universe?
What does empiricism emphasize?
Who created the modern scientific method?
Who put forth the three laws of planetary motion?
Who formulated the law of universal gravitation?
What was Galileo’s greatest achievement?
Who wrote On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres? What is its
significance?
Who wrote Principia? What is its significance?
Who postulated the theory of inertia? What did it state?
What is the significance of Gresham College to the discipline of science?
Who is regarded as Europe’s leading astronomer with his vast amounts of
detailed observations?
What are the significant causes of the scientific revolution?
What are the significant consequences of the scientific revolution?
 How
is the Scientific Revolution a change in
both science and thought?
 What are the causes and consequences of the
Scientific Revolution?
 Who were the major contributors to the
advancement of scientific knowledge?
 Who is impacted by the Scientific Revolution?
How are those people/groups impacted?