The Scientific Revolution 1543-1727

The Scientific Revolution Burst of learning and understanding, based around new ways of looking at the world Born out of Renaissance and Reformation, and some of the new thoughts that were a reaction to absolutism Challenged Ancient Greek and Medieval views of the world. Codified science and discovery, creating norms and fields. Like the scientific method, and physics Main players: Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Bacon, and Newton

Copernicus & Galileo Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus postulated a heliocentric theory of the solar system—arguing the sun, not the Earth was the center of the solar system. This did at least change the calendar. The Ancient Greeks had taught the geocentric theory, as had the church, this argued the church was wrong and therefore fallible. But no one took Copernicus very seriously at first. Then some guys like Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler started to agree. Finally, a brilliant Italian physicist, who would come up with laws of uniform motion and basic relativity, Galileo Galilei, also began to agree, and he told people as much, loudly in New Astronomy.

Galileo & the Church Galileo was warned to shut up—he had insulted the church astronomers, and called the church wrong at a time when it was being heavily challenged by Protestantism So, he published Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems, which said both views could be right but argued more for the Copernican view. Now he was referred to the Inquisition for its publication. He was made to recant and confess because his propositions are “expressedly contrary to the Holy Scriptures [as well as being] absurd, philosophically false, and theologically erroneous in faith.” He was placed under house arrest, never fully free to move or think again

Bacon & Descartes Rene Descartes — French philosopher during Louis XIV Cogito Ergo Sum — “I think therefore I am” — principal of doubt proved the existence of life and God Developed and codified Scientific Method Francis Bacon — also a “scientific philosopher, his ideas and paintings inspired more than his experiments Classified the idea of “induction.” That by thinking and the slow accumulation of knowledge one would eventually come up with universal laws or truths Made researchers work together and cooperate.

Isaac Newton English scientist who lived in the late 1600s-early 1700s Most famous for his theory of gravity (FYI: the apple story has been debated and is still, well, debatable, but unlikely) More important maybe is his laws of motion. They are: An object in motion shall remain in motion until a force acts upon it The rate of change of motion is determined by the forces acting on it, like friction For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Effects of the Scientific Revolution Created a new type of science which called for using facts, data, theories, and research to draw conclusions Led to advancements in other fields like medicine and war Amount of time it took for information to travel halved. In 1500 it took four weeks from central Italy to London, by 1700 it took two Science became institutionalized in education and society— academies formed and scientific patronage became popular.