The Scientific Revolution “No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess” --Isaac Newton

The Middle Ages People believed: -The earth was flat -The earth was the center of the universe (God created the universe to serve people, therefore it was the center) This idea was called the Geocentric Theory

Old Views New Views Scholars relied on traditional authorities for beliefs about structure of universe Geocentric theory, Aristotle Earth center of universe Sun, moon, planets revolved around sun Ideas upheld by church, accepted authority for European intellectuals Scholars began to challenge traditional authorities, 1500s Scientific Revolution, new way of thinking Posed theories, developed procedures to test ideas Why open to new ideas? Exploration New lands, new people, new animals

Main Ideas and Details A new understanding of the world Logical thought Scientific Method

Nicolaus Copernicus In the late 1400s, Copernicus began to challenge this old way of thinking He believed the earth was round and rotated on its axis as it revolved around the sun He believed the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe This was called the Heliocentric Theory

Johannes Kepler German astronomer in the early 1600s Defended and expanded ideas of Copernicus He used mathematical formulas to prove that the planets revolve around the sun (laws of planetary motion) Kepler also proved the planets move in oval ellipses, and move faster as they approach the sun

Galileo Galilei In 1609, mathematician Galileo expanded the ideas of Copernicus by proving that planets revolve around the sun, not the earth He also made improvements on the telescope, observed sun spots, improved compass design and discovered the 4 largest satellites of Jupiter, now called the Galilean Moons

Galileo Continued… In 1632, after publishing his ideas, Galileo was forced to stand trial for speaking against church ideas He was forced to recant his views and lived out his life under house arrest

Francis Bacon Late 1500s/Early 1600s Scientists should observe the world and gather information Conduct experiements Develop theories and test them Helped develop (along with Descartes) Scientific Method— scientists observe, hypothesize, and experiment to prove scientific law

Rene Descartes Everything needs to be proven by reason Natural world operates like a machine due to basic physical laws “I think, therefore I am”

Scientific Method Identify the problem Research Hypothesis Test hypothesis Analyze and record data Draw conclusions

Isaac Newton Late 1600s/Early 1700s Newton expanded the works of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo In his book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), Newton described the three laws of motion and gravity (basis for modern engineering) Helped develop calculus and created “Newton’s Method” for approximating zeroes of a function Invented the reflecting telescope, studied the speed of sound and law of cooling

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion A body continues to maintain its state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force F = ma: the net force on an object is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by its acceleration To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Science and Society As science assumed greater significance, the question of the role of the Roman Catholic Church in a changing culture became important. While the church opposed the views of many scientists, it benefited from new discoveries that made Renaissance art and architecture possible. The church feared reason as an enemy of faith, but eventually began to embrace some of the achievements of the Scientific Revolution.

Science and Community Scientific Revolution established new way of thinking about physical world Great advances made in astronomy, physics, biology, chemistry Advances influenced developments in arts, architecture Impact of Scientific Revolution soon would cause philosophers, scholars to wonder if reason could solve poverty, war, ignorance

Clousure What was the Scientific Revolution? Explain the Church’s reaction to science. How did the Scientific Revolution have an impact beyond the realm of science?