THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION:
ASTRONOMY
Unit Two/Ch. 16
AP European History
Ms. Tully - UHS
Focus Question
 What did Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and
Newton contribute to a new vision of the
universe, and how did it differ from the
Ptolemaic conception of the universe?
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Background to the Scientific
Revolution
Revival of classical works by Renaissance humanists
Renaissance artists – anatomy, mathematics
Exploration  technical advancements
Printing press
Rediscovery of ancient mathematics
Renaissance magic  desire to understand &
dominate nature
 Geocentric conception  concentric spheres w/
fixed earth at center
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
 Spent 24 years
developing heliocentric
conception  On the
Revolutions of Heavenly
Spheres
 Challenged Ptolemaic
system  sun at center
 New uncertainty of
human role
 Condemned by
Protestants & Catholics
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) &
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
 Brahe  Danish
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nobleman w/ a castle on
island
20 years of detailed
observations
Brahe’s assistant 
Johannes Kepler
Kepler gained possession
of Brahe’s data
Three Laws of Planetary
Motion
Eliminated idea of
circular motion & crystal
spheres
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
 First European to use
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telescope in astronomy
Contradicted theory that
everything is made like
the earth
The Starry Messenger
(1610), Dialogue on the
Two Chief World Systems:
Ptolemaic and Copernican
Condemned by Roman
Inquisition  put under
house arrest for 8 years
Developed law of inertia
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
 Created synthesis of Copernicus,
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Kepler, Galileo
Englishmen, studied at
Cambridge
Invented calculus, studied
composition of light, law of
universal gravitation
Principia (1686)
President of Royal Society in
1727
Universality of law could
mathematically explain all
motion in the universe
Dominant world view until 20th C