Novum OrganumTheNovum Organum, full original titleNovum Organum Scientiarum(new instrument of science), is a philosophical work byFrancis Bacon, written inLatinand published in 1620. The title is a reference toAristotle's workOrganon, which was his treatise onlogicandsyllogism. InNovum Organum, Bacon details a new system of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways of syllogism. This is now known as theBaconian method.For Bacon, finding the essence of a thing was a simple process ofreduction, and the use ofinductive reasoning. In finding the cause of a phenomenal nature such as heat, one must list all of the situations where heat is found. Then another list should be drawn up, listing situations that are similar to those of the first list except for the lack of heat. A third table lists situations where heat can vary. The form nature, or cause, of heat must be that which is common to all instances in the first table, is lacking from all instances of the second table and varies by degree in instances of the third table.The title page ofNovum Organumdepicts agalleonpassing between the mythicalPillars of Herculesthat stand either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, marking the exit from the well-charted waters of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean. The Pillars, as the boundary of the Mediterranean, have been smashed through opening a new world for exploration. Bacon hopes that empirical investigation will, similarly, smash the old scientific ideas and lead to greater understanding of the world and heavens.The Latin tag across the bottom Multi pertransibunt & augebitur scientia is taken fromDaniel12:4. It means: "Many will travel and knowledge will be increased".

Francis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban,[1][a]QC(/bekn/; 22 January 1561 9 April 1626), was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, essayist, and author. He served both asAttorney GeneralandLord Chancellorof England. After his death, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of thescientific methodduring thescientific revolution.Bacon has been called the father ofempiricism.[4]His works established and popularisedinductivemethodologies for scientific inquiry, often called theBaconian method, or simply thescientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of propermethodologytoday.Bacon wasknightedin 1603, and createdBaron Verulamin 1618 and Viscount St. Alban in 1621;[b]as he died without heirs, bothpeeragesbecame extinct upon his death. He died ofpneumonia, supposedly contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat.

Ren DescartesRen Descartes(/dekrt/;[5]French:[ne dekat];Latinized:Renatus Cartesius;adjectival form: "Cartesian";[6]31 March 1596 11 February 1650) was a Frenchphilosopher,mathematicianand writer who spent most of his life in theDutch Republic. He has been dubbed the father of modern philosophy, and much subsequentWestern philosophyis a response to his writings,[7][8]which are studied closely to this day. In particular, hisMeditations on First Philosophycontinues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is equally apparent; theCartesian coordinate system allowing reference to a point in space as a set of numbers, and allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system (and conversely, shapes to be described as equations) was named after him. He is credited as the father ofanalytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the discovery ofinfinitesimal calculusandanalysis. Descartes was also one of the key figures in thescientific revolutionand has been described as an example ofgenius. He refused to accept the authority of previous philosophers, and refused to trust his own senses. Descartes frequently sets his views apart from those of his predecessors. In the opening section of thePassions of the Soul, a treatise on theearly modernversion of what are now commonly calledemotions, Descartes goes so far as to assert that he will write on this topic "as if no one had written on these matters before". Many elements of his philosophy have precedents in lateAristotelianism, therevived Stoicismof the 16th century, or in earlier philosophers likeAugustine. In his natural philosophy, he differs from theschoolson two major points: First, he rejects the splitting ofcorporeal substanceinto matter and form; second, he rejects any appeal tofinal endsdivine or naturalin explaining natural phenomena.[9]In his theology, he insists on the absolute freedom of God's act of creation.Descartes laid the foundation for 17th-century continentalrationalism, later advocated byBaruch SpinozaandGottfried Leibniz, and opposed by theempiricistschool of thought consisting ofHobbes,Locke,Berkeley, andHume. Leibniz, Spinoza and Descartes were all well versed in mathematics as well as philosophy, and Descartes and Leibniz contributed greatly to science as well.His best known philosophical statement is "Cogito ergo sum" (French:Je pense, donc je suis;I think, therefore I am), found in part IV ofDiscourse on the Method(1637 written in French but with inclusion of "Cogito ergo sum") and 7 of part I ofPrinciples of Philosophy(1644 written in Latin).

Isaac NewtonSirIsaac NewtonPRSMP(/njutn/;[8]25 December 1642 20 March1726/7[1]) was an Englishphysicistandmathematician(described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in thescientific revolution. His bookPhilosophi Naturalis Principia Mathematica("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the foundations forclassical mechanics. Newton made seminal contributions tooptics, and he shares credit withGottfried Leibnizfor the development ofcalculus.Newton'sPrincipiaformulated thelaws of motionanduniversal gravitation, which dominated scientists' view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. By derivingKepler's laws of planetary motionfrom his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories ofcomets, thetides, theprecession of the equinoxes, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of theheliocentricmodel of the Solar System. This work also demonstrated that themotion of objectson Earth and ofcelestialbodies could be described by the same principles. His prediction that Earth should be shaped as anoblate spheroidwas later vindicated by the measurements ofMaupertuis,La Condamine, and others, which helped convince mostContinental Europeanscientists of the superiority of Newtonian mechanics over the earlier system ofDescartes.Newton built the first practicalreflecting telescopeand developed a theory of colour based on the observation that aprismdecomposes white light into the many colours of thevisible spectrum. He formulated anempirical law of cooling, studied thespeed of sound, and introduced the notion of aNewtonian fluid. In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton contributed to the study ofpower series, generalised thebinomial theoremto non-integer exponents, developed amethodfor approximating theroots of a function, and classified most of thecubic plane curves.Newton was a fellow ofTrinity Collegeand the secondLucasian Professor of Mathematicsat theUniversity of Cambridge. He was a devout but unorthodox Christian and, unusually for a member of the Cambridge faculty of the day, he refused to takeholy ordersin theChurch of England, perhaps because he privately rejected the doctrine of theTrinity. Beyond his work on the mathematical sciences, Newton dedicated much of his time to the study ofbiblical chronologyandalchemy, but most of his work in those areas remained unpublished until long after his death. In his later life, Newton became president of theRoyal Society. Newton served the British government as Warden and Master of theRoyal Mint.

Galileo GalileiGalileo Galilei(Italian pronunciation:[alilo alili]; 15 February 1564[3] 8 January 1642), often knownmononymouslyasGalileo, was an Italianphysicist,mathematician,engineer,astronomer, andphilosopherwho played a major role in thescientific revolutionduring theRenaissance. His achievements include improvements to thetelescopeand consequent astronomical observations and support forCopernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modernobservational astronomy",[4]the "father of modernphysics",[5][6]the "father of science",[6][7]and "the father of modern science".[8]His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of thephases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites ofJupiter(named theGalilean moonsin his honour), and the observation and analysis ofsunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improvedmilitary compassand other instruments.Galileo's championing ofheliocentrismwas controversial within his lifetime, a time when most subscribed to eithergeocentrismor theTychonic system.[9]He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observedstellar parallax.[9]The matter was investigated by theRoman Inquisitionin 1615, which concluded that heliocentrism was false and contrary toscripture, placing works advocating the Copernican system on theindex of banned booksand forbidding Galileo from advocating heliocentrism.[9][10]Galileo later defended his views inDialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack PopeUrban VIII, thus alienating not only the Pope but also theJesuits, both of whom had supported Galileo up until this point.[9]He was tried by theHoly Office, then found "vehemently suspect ofheresy", was forced to recant, and spent the last nine years of his life under house arrest.[11][12]It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works,Two New Sciences, in which he summarised the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now calledkinematicsandstrength of materials.