THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

World History: Miss Winters

Causes of the Scientific Revolution

Medieval Intellectual Life Remember.. Thinking sin

caused the Black Death, etc. The Italian Renaissance

System of Patronage gave money to new areas!

Renewed focus on mathematics

Navigational problems of long sea voyages

Better scientific instruments

New Sciences! 16th-17th century: physics and

astronomy 17th-18th century: chemistry and

biology 16th-18th century: mathematics

New methods of thought going back to Aristotle and Greek/Roman philosopher/scientists Just like the Renaissance did!

Discoveries during exploration led to doubt

Copernicus (1473-1543) Aim to glorify God Heliocentrism: Believed

in a sun-centered universe Challenged circular orbits Universe of staggering size Earth no different than any

other planet On the Revolutions of

the Heavenly Spheres (1543) Published on his deathbed

due to fear of the Church

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Father of the

Scientific Revolution

Emphasis on practical, useful knowledge

New attitude toward nature

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Used experimental

method Discoveries using the

telescope supported Heliocentrism

Mathematical formula for acceleration of falling objects Law of inertia

Challenges categories of “form” and “matter”

1633- Church forced Galileo to recant; placed under house arrest

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Planetary motion explained by mathematical formula Elliptical orbits Planets do not

move at uniform speeds in their orbits

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Significance of Doubt

Spatial relationships can be expressed in mathematical formulas

Father of “analytical geometry”

Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Blends inductive and

deductive methods Argues for a universe

governed by natural laws Laws of Motion!

Principia; Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1687)

Consequences of the Scientific Revolution

Rise of the “Scientific Community”

The modern scientific method

A universe ordered according to natural laws

Consequences of the Scientific Revolution (cont)

Deism Belief that there is a

God that created the universe

BUT laws of nature, not miracles explain how the world works

Laws discovered by human reason

“De-Spiritualized” and de-mystified the Universe

Consequences of the Scientific Revolution (cont)