Did you know? Upon entering the University of Pisa in 1581,
Galileo Galilei intended to study medicine. Almost immediately,
however, he began to focus on mathematics and philosophy. Although
he left school in 1585 without having obtained a degree, his
unconventional academic past did not stop Galileo from becoming the
chair of mathematics at the university four years later.
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Objectives: Explain the events that led to the Scientific
Revolution List famous scientists and their contributions
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Background to the Revolution Medieval scientists, simply
followed ancient authorities. These scientists, known as natural
philosophers, did not make observations of the world and nature so
much as rely on ancient authorities, especially Aristotle, for
their scientific knowledge. Changes in the 1400s and 1500s caused
European scientists to adopt new views and methods.
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Renaissance humanists studied the newly discovered works of
Ptolemy, Archimedes, Plato, and other ancient thinkers. They
learned that some ancient thinkers had disagreed with Aristotle and
other accepted authorities.
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Changes in Means and Motives Technical problems, like
calculating how much weight a ship could hold, spurred a movement
towards observation and measurement, New instruments like the
telescope and microscope made fresh observations and discoveries
possible. How were these newly emerging ideas able to develop so
quickly? Hint? Think Gutenberg!
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The study of mathematics in the Renaissance contributed to the
scientific achievements in the 16 th and 17 th centuries. The great
scientists of the day believed that the secrets of nature were
written in the language of mathematics. These intellectuals-
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and others- developed new
theories that became the foundation of the Scientific
Revolution.
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What do you think was the Catholic Churchs response to these
developments of the Scientific Revolution?
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Ptolemy
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Born in the 2 nd century A.D., Ptolemy was antiquitys greatest
astronomer. Medieval philosophers constructed a geocentric (Earth
is at the center) model of the universe called the Ptolemaic
system. It is a series of concentric spheres with a motionless
earth in the middle.
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Ptolemaic System
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According to Ptolemy, the planets are in different,
crystal-like spheres. They rotate, which accounts for the movements
of the heavenly bodies. The tenth sphere is the prime mover, which
moves itself and gives motion to the other spheres. Beyond this is
Heaven, where God and all the saved souls reside.
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Nicholas Copernicus
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Nicholas Copernicus of Poland published his famous work, On the
Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in 1543. He believed his
heliocentric (with the sun in the center) system was more accurate
than the Ptolemaic system. Copernicus argued that all the planets
revolved around the sun, the Moon revolved around Earth, and Earth
rotated on its axis.
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Johannes Kepler
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The German mathematician Johannes Kepler also helped destroy
the Ptolemaic system Keplers observations confirmed that the Sun
was at the center of the universe, and he tracked the elliptical
orbits of the planets. Ptolemy had insisted that the orbits were
circular.
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Galileo Galilei
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The Italian scientists and mathematician Galileo Galilei
answered one of the two remaining questions for the new astronomy:
What are the planets made of? He was the first European to make
regular observations with a telescope. He saw mountains on the Moon
and the four moons orbiting Jupiter.
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Ptolemy had said the heavenly bodies were pure orbs of light,
but now it appeared they were material. Galileos work began to make
Europeans aware of the new view of the universe. He got into
trouble with the Catholic Church. They ordered him to abandon the
new system because the Copernican conception contradicted that of
the Church and the Bibl e.
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In the Copernican system, the heavens were not spiritual but
material, and God was no longer in a specific place. Most
astronomers believed the new conception, however.
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Isaac Newton
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The Englishman Isaac Newton responded to the second question
for the new conception of the universe: What explains motion in the
universe? He was a mathematician at Cambridge University
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Newton published his view in Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy, also known as the Principia. He defined the three laws
of motion in the universe. Crucial to his view was the universal
law of gravitation: every object in the universe is attracted to
every other object by a force called gravity. This explains why
planetary bodies did not go off in a straight line, but travel in
elliptical orbits.
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Newton gave the world a picture of the universe as a huge,
regulated, uniform machine. This picture dominated the modern
worldview until Einsteins theory of relativity.
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Why would astronomy be where the new scientists and the Church
would clash?
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Closure: What did you learn today?
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Objectives: Analyze the developments in medicine and chemistry
Explain the role of women in Science Analyze changes in thought
patterns, such as the work of Descartes Explain the Scientific
Method
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Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry In the Late Middle
Ages, medicine was still dominated by the teaching of the Greek
physician Galen (second century A.D.) Galens views about anatomy
were often wrong, because he used animals, not people, for
dissection.
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The new anatomy of the 16 th century was based on the work of
Adreas Vesalius, published in his On the Fabric of the Human Body
(1543). He reported his results from dissecting human bodies as a
professor of surgery at the University of Padua, presenting an
accurate view of the individual organs and general structure of the
human body. He erroneously believed the body had two kinds of
bloods, taken from Galen.
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William Harveys On the Motion of the Heart and Blood (1628)
showed that the heart, not the liver as Galen had thought, was the
beginning point of the bloods circulation. He also showed that the
same blood runs through veins and arteries and that the blood makes
a complete circuit through the body. Harveys work was based on
close observation and experiment.
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The work of Robert Boyle in chemistry was also based on close
observation and experiment. Boyles Law about gases- the volume of
gas varies with the pressure exerted on it. In the 18 th century,
Antoine Lavoisier, the founder of modern chemistry, invented a
system of naming the chemical elements.
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How did the Scientific Revolution connect to the
Renaissance?
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Women and the Origins of Modern Science One of the most
prominent female scientists of the 17 th century was Margaret
Cavendish. In her book Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy,
Cavendish criticized the belief that humans, through science, were
the masters of nature.
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In Germany, many women scientists were astronomers. They often
received training in family observatories from their fathers or
husbands. Maria Winkelmann was the most famous; she assisted her
husband, the famous Prussian astronomer Gottfried Kirch, and
discovered a comet.
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Winklemann was denied a post as assistant astronomer at the
Berlin Academy because of her gender. In the view of most people of
the seventeenth century, science and scholarship conflicted with
the domestic roles women were expected to fulfill.
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Throughout history, many people believed that women were not
good at mathematics and science. Are there subject areas today in
which the girls are thought to have more potential?
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Descartes and Reason
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The work of the French philosopher Rene Descartes strongly
reflects the Western view of humankind that came from the
Scientific Revolution. In his Discourse on Method (1637) Descartes
asserts that he can rationally be sure of only one thing-his own
existence. He asserted he would accept only those things his reason
said were true.
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Descartes asserted that while he could not doubt the existence
of his mind- I think, therefore I am- he could doubt the existence
of the material world. He concluded that the material world and the
mental world were two different realms.
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Descartes has been called the father of modern rationalism.
This system of thought is based on the idea that reason is the
chief source of knowledge.
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On what basis did Descartes claim he could not doubt his own
existence?
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The Scientific Method During the Scientific Revolution, people
were concerned about how they could best understand the physical
universe. They created the scientific method. The philosophy of
Francis Bacon was most responsible for the scientific method.
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Francis Bacon
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Bacon emphasized arriving at conclusions about nature using
inductive reasoning, or making generalizations from particular
observations and experiments organized to test hypotheses. He
believed science was to give human kind new discoveries and the
power to serve human purposes by conquering nature in action. The
control and domination of nature became an important concern of
science and its accompanying technology.
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Some contemporary thinkers argue that the goal on controlling
nature has done a lot of harm to the world. What might they have in
mind?
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Closure: Picturing History Page 512 Chart Skills Page 513