The Scientific Revolution
View of the Universe 500 Years Ago
1
What was the Scientific Revolution?
 The Scientific Revolution began in the middle decades of the
sixteenth century and continued through the early part of the
eighteenth century. It involved gradual developments in
astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology.
 It was part of a great intellectual transformation that brought
about the early modern period in European history.
 It was concurrent with other major events
 Copernicus was making discoveries at the same time that
the religious wars were breaking out in Europe.
 By the end of the Scientific Revolution, Europe was about to
embark on the Enlightenment, a cultural movement that
largely rejected religion.
Background of the Scientific Revolution
1. Medieval Universities
2. Renaissance
•
•
•
•
patronage
a change in perspective on human nature and the relationship between
God and man
increased secularism
Corpus Hermeticum
3. Age of Exploration
•
solutions to technical problems required observation and measurement
4. Printing Press
•
dissemination of ideas
5. Advanced Mathematics
•
a natural order in the universe that could be explained through
mathematics
What was the medieval view of the world?
cosmology- the study of the universe
 Scientific thought in the Middle Ages
 Aristotle (c.384-322 B.C.)
 dominated the European view of how the world operated
 world at rest, motion caused by external force (Prime Mover)
 Ptolemy (c.100-168 A.D.)
 developed astronomy based on Aristotle
View of the Universe 500 Years Ago
5
Three
Guiding
Principles
Celestial
objects are
made from
perfect
material and
cannot
change their
properties
(e.g., their
brightness).
Earth is at
the center
of the
Universe
All motion
in the
heavens is
uniform
circular
motion
Aristotle’s Prime Mover
6
Ptolemy (c.100-168 A.D.)
 Used the ideas of
Aristotle in
combination with his
own observations to
construct a model of
the universePtolemaic system
(Earth-centered or
geocentric)
Ptolemy’s Geocentric
System
Ptolemy
The Ptolemaic Universe : Ideas about uniform circular motion and epicycles
8
were catalogued by Ptolemy in 150 A.D. in his book the Almagest.
REASSURANCE
Divine power
would triumph over
corruption and
decay of earthly
things and lift the
soul to an afterlife
in heaven
COMFORT
Individual could
locate God. Soul’s
destination would
be above or below.
STABILITY
Earth was
at center.
Mankind
important in
God’s plan
9
Medieval Representation of Ptolemaic Universe
Aristotle’s
Prime Mover
became the
God of
Christian
theology.
The outermost
sphere became
the Christian
heaven.
Earth at center
represented the
Christian God’s
concern for
mankind.
10
Religious Dogma
11
The Main Scientists of the Scientific Revolution
 Astronomers: Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo
 Scientific Method: Bacon, Descartes
 Synthesis: Newton
Nicholas Copernicus
(1473-1543)

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introduced a new cosmology
observations without instruments
consulted ancient documents
On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres
(1543)
 dedicated to Pope Paul III
 used mathematics and logic to show that the
earth and planets travel around the sun
 Copernican Theory (heliocentric)
 Critics?
 1616, the Catholic Church declared the
heliocentric theory to be heresy
Contemporary Representation of Copernicus’ Solar System
16
Tycho Brahe
(1546-1601)
 Danish nobleman and
astronomer
 important contributions:
an astronomical observatory,
precise instruments, extensive
data on Mars (Kepler used to
prove that the orbit of Mars
was not a circle but an ellipse)
 Did not accept Copernicus’
heliocentric model of the
universe
17
Johannes Kepler
(1571-1630)
 Revised Copernicus’ ideas
 Kepler’s theories on planetary
motion
1. orbits of planets are elliptical
2. planets do not move at uniform speed
while in their orbits
3. The time it takes for a planet to orbit
the sun is directly based on its
distance from the sun (the closer the
planet is to the sun, the faster its
orbit)
Since the orbits of the planets are not circles but ellipses, Copernicus
could not explain all the details of planetary motion without epicycles 19
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
 mathematician, physicist, and
philosopher
 observations





used the telescope
planets?
sunspots
moons around Jupiter
applied mathematical formulas to
his findings
 Dialogue on the Two Great
Systems of the World (1632)
 Galileo was threatened with
heresy in 1642
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) proved the Copernican theory with his telescope,
challenged Aristotle's universe and its theological-philosophical worldview,21and
laid the foundations for dynamics (how objects move on the earth) and gravity.
Galileo used his telescope to show that Venus went through a complete set of
phases, just like the Moon. This observation confirmed the Copernican system
and proved that the Ptolemaic system was incorrect.
22
Sunspots
Galileo observed sunspots that
moved, indicating that the Sun
was rotating on an axis and
that it was not made from a
perfect, unchanging substance.
He observed four points of light
that changed their positions
around the planet Jupiter and
concluded that they were
moons circling the planet as it
moved around its orbit.
.
23
Galileo's challenge of the Church's authority got him into trouble with the 24
Inquisition. Late in his life, he was forced to recant his Copernican views publicly.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
 English mathematician
 Principia Mathematica,1687
 synthesized Galileo’s discoveries about
motion on Earth and Kepler’s discoveries
concerning the heavens
 developed calculus to explain his ideas
 defined the physical laws of the universethe law of universal gravitation and the laws
of motion
 Age of Reason (The Enlightenment)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
 empirical method
 Novum Organum, 1620
 Proposed the process of inductive
reasoning
 make observations, then generalize
the rules of nature; this process provided the
foundation for scientific observation
 promoted the modern idea of progress (Bacon
believed that the application of science could
benefit society)
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
 mathematician and philosopher
 Discourse on Method, 1637
 deductive reasoning
 Consequences of the Scientific Revolution:
1. A new worldview emerged, replacing the old
view that was bound in the traditions of the
medieval church
2. Europeans were more willing to question the
status quo
3. New methods of acquiring knowledge were
beginning to take form
4. Scientific communities began to emerge
5. European technology improved
6. The new science widened the intellectual gap
Superstition and Witchcraft
 The belief in magic still widespread
in the seventeenth century
 educated people and magic
 Magic was viewed as being either
good (tied to the church) or bad (the
devil).
 The alternative was natural magic.
 astrology
 alchemy
The Middle Ages and Witches
 Major witch hunts occurred during
from 1560 to 1660 (waned
subsequently)
 Crossed the Atlantic to Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1692
 Witch hunts emerged in areas
experiencing religious conflict
 occurred in both Protestant and
Catholic areas
 Between 1400-1700
 approximately 100,000 accused
witches went to trial
 approximately 60,000 were
executed
 Women comprised 80% of those
executed
 older, unmarried women
 midwives
 Causes for the witch hunts?
 What brought about an end to the
An Assembly of Witches, Hans Baldung
which hunts?
*Read Witchcraft documents.
Seventeenth-century depictions of witches.
Departing for the Sabbath, Hans Baldung
Society and the Ancien Régime
1600s and 1700s
Seventeenth-Century European Social Hierarchy (France)
Relics of Feudalism
 taille
 gabelle
 corvée
 banalités
 sacraments
Society in the 1700s (common folk)
 Family, marriage, and children before
1750
 nuclear families (west) and extended
families (east)
 older marriages, inheritance, and dowries
 legal marriage restrictions
 law rate of illegitimate births
 children
 Family, marriage and children after
1750
 marriage age decreased
 explosion in birth rate, many illegitimate
 impact of early urbanization?
Attitudes Toward Children (1700s)
 Infanticide and Founding
Hospitals
 “overlaying”
 abandoned children
 Raising Children
 strict discipline
 less emotional attachment
 high infant and child mortality
 Young People and Work
 family work and job searching
 boys and girls
Education
 roots of public education
 Christian schools
 Prussia, 1717- universal
compulsory education
 Christians- Bible
 service to the state
 Literacy in Britain
1600- 25%
1800- over 50%
 Men and Women
Agriculture and the Agricultural
Revolution (1600s and 1700s)
European Agrarianism
before 1700
Open Field System
Feudal Common Field
System
Key features of Agricultural Revolution
1. increased production of food, as a result of
2. new methods of cultivation and
3. selective breeding
Science and Technology in Agriculture
 The Netherlands (Dutch Republic),
mid-1600s
 Growing population=increased demand
for food
 Regional Specialization
 Changes in Agriculture

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land enclosure
crop rotation
diversified planting
manure for fertilizer
conversion of marshland
 Cornelius Vermuyden
Free-trade in the Netherlands vs. Mercantilism
in France and England
Land Conversion (Drainage)
Dutch Levee
England and the Agricultural Revolution
Between 1700 and 1870 crop production triple in England with only a 14%
in people working the land!
Charles Townshend (1674-1738)
 ‘Turnip Townshend’
 Imported agricultural ideas from the Netherlands to England
 Introduced a four-field crop production system (convertible
husbandry) in which he proposed the use of turnips in crop
rotation
1st Field
2nd Field
3rd Field
wheat
*cash crop
barley
*horse and
peasant
feed
turnips
beans
*livestock & clover
fertilizer
*replenish
(plowed)
soil
***significance for livestock and the availability of meat
4th Field
Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (1674-1741)
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


empiricism and agriculture
seed drill, systematic planting
Use of horses for plowing
Horse-hoeing Husbandry: An Essay on the
Principles of Vegetation and Tillage
Designed to Introduce a New Method of
Culture (1731)
Selective Breeding
 Robert Bakewell (1725-1795)
 Selectively bred livestock to
produce fatter and healthier
animals
 Increased the production of meat,
wool, leather, soap, manure
The introduction of food items from the Americas:
especially potatoes and maize (corn)
Yield Ratio for Grain Crops
(1400-1800)
Agricultural production in England increased
significantly from 1710  1795:
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Cattle 375 lbs.  800 lbs
Calves 50 lbs. 150 lbs
Sheep 28 lbs.  80 lbs
Lambs 18 lbs.  50 lbs
Milk production increased 300%
Grain production increased from 4-6
bushels/acre  24 bushels/acre
The Enclosure Movement
The Enclosure Movement (England)
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


Enclosure began in the 1500s- sheep/wool
Intensified in the 1700s- crop production
Landowners invested in more land and technology
Number of large farms increased
Landowning nobles/gentry
dominated Parliament
 What happened to the peasants?
 Corn Laws (1815-1846)
 protective tariff on imported grain
 England’s poor suffered
 Impact of the Enclosure Movement on the Peasantry




facilitated urbanization
fueled the cottage industry
women?
a new hierarchy emerged in England
 a few great landowners dominated the economy and politics
 a large number peasants became wage earners on farms or in the
cottage industry
 Game Laws (1800s)
 Overall Impact of the Agricultural Revolution
1.
2.
3.
4.
Population Explosion in the 18th century
Enclosure Movement altered rural society
Cottage industry emerged as supplemental income for rural families
Increased food supply=lower prices= money for consumer goods
Eighteenth-Century Population Growth Rate
Population Density: 18c Europe
The Proto-Industrial Revolution
England in the 1700s
A period of transition:
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
Agriculture  Industry
Handmade Items  Items Made by Machine
Individual Production  Mass Production
Artisan/Family Workers  Skilled/Low-Skilled Workers
Rural  Urban
Home  Factory
Energy: Hydro, Wind, Animal  Fossil Fuels
Expensive High Quality Goods  Less Expensive
Standardized Goods
 Individual Sales  Retailers
 Localized Trade  Trade Abroad
Supplemental Income  Cottage Industries:
“Putting-Out” System
The Cottage Industry (1600s)
(Putting-Out System or Domestic System)
 Investor (Entrepreneur) w/capital purchased the
raw material
 Individuals in the rural cottages were hired to
produce goods from the raw materials using their
own tools (paid for quantity produced)
 The investor then sold the goods to retailers to
distribute
The “Putting-Out” System
Advantages of the Putting-Out System
1. Peasants could supplement their agricultural incomes.

taking advantage of winter months when farming was impossible
2. Merchants could avoid the higher wages and often demanding
regulations of urban labor.

easier to reduce the number of workers when the economy was bad
3. Merchants could acquire capital, which would later play a part in
funding industrialization itself.

Peasants acquired skills that later benefited industrialization
4. Young people could start separate households earlier, thus
contributing to population growth.
Disadvantage of the Putting-Out System
When demand rose [which it did in the 18th century] this system
proved inefficient. Merchant-capitalists found it difficult to induce
peasant-workers to increase their output.
\This dilemma eventually led to the factory system. All the workers
were concentrated in one place under the supervision of a manager.
Water or steam power could easily be applied there.
New Inventions-Cottage Industry to Factory System
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
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New mechanical inventions transformed the cottage industry:
flying shuttle
spinning jenny
water-powered loom
steam engine
The Flying Shuttle (1733)
 Developed by
John Kay in 1733
 Increased the
production of cloth
and thus created a
greater demand
for yarn/thread.
The Spinning Jenny (1764)
 John Hargreaves is credited with inventing the spinning
jenny (1764), which increased the production of thread by
working multiple spools.
The Water Frame (1769)
 Richard Arkwright
developed the Water
Frame, which
mechanized the spinning
of thread using the water
wheel.
The Power Loom (1785)
 Invented by Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823) in 1785,
the power loom used the water wheel (later the steam
engine) as a power source for weaving cloth.
Steam Engine (1712)
 Along with his partner Thomas
Savery, Thomas Newcomen
(1663-1729) invented the
steam engine. Problems?
Steam Engine (1775)
 James Watt (1736-1819) made
improvements to the steam
engine that enabled it to drive
machinery
 The steam engine was applied
to the production of textiles
The Factory System and Industrialization, 1780s
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain
(England) late 1700s. Why?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
British Raw Materials
Eighteenth-Century Foreign Trade (England)
Eighteenth-Century English Port
European Urbanization: 1500-1800
Industry & Population: 18c Europe
Eighteenth-Century English “Nouveau Riche”:
The Capitalist Entrepreneur
“Gin Lane”
William Hogarth
1751
“Beer Street”
William Hogarth
1751
Social Impact of Industrialization
1. Growth of Cities- The Urban Game
2. Change in Family Structure (Textbook)
The Urban Game
Essay- England and Industrialization
 Manchester DBQ or
 Identify and discuss the key factors behind the
development of industrialization in Great Britain and
explain how the subsequent growth of industry impacted
nineteenth-century European society.