The Scientific Revolution

Old and New Renaissance: rebirth or return to classical Greek and Roman culture and thinking Humanism: belief that mankind’s goal is to attain the good things of this life rather than heaven Renaissance humanism despised the Middle Ages as barbaric and backwards, but did not disavow religion altogether Following the Renaissance comes the the Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution If the Reformation was a revolution in religious affairs, the Scientific Revolution was so in scientific affairs The Scientific Revolution involved a turn towards science as the primary means of explaining and understanding the world The SR was a new way of more certainly attaining true knowledge of the world Protestantism certainly intensified the SR: no longer should man’s efforts be directed towards his salvation (remember, faith alone) but all this energy is now redirected towards natural concerns (e.g., science) Natural philosophy: term used by early modern, medieval, and ancient seekers after the knowledge to be found through study of the natural world; very similar to our term “science” but grew separate as time went on

The Old Way and the New way Old Way: experience gives rises to principles on the basis of which broad conclusions about man’s nature and destiny are drawn: ontological Deduction: type of reasoning starting with principles and moving to conclusions Conclusions can go beyond the senses, giving knowledge of God, angels, the hereafter, the state, morality, and so on. New Way: experiment (narrow form of experience) gives rise to data which confirms a theory or hypothesis, but cannot answer ultimate questions: emperiological Induction: type of reasoning starting with a hypothesis and using tests to verify or falsify the idea Conclusions are bound to scientific instruments (e.g., microscopes) as only what is “testable” can be considered knowledge

The Copernican revolution While earlier medieval thinkers had initially started the “experimental” method, (St Albertus Magnus, Robert Grosseteste; astronomy, medicine, optics, physics), the emphasis on philosophy made it seem as if experiment were completely new for the the 16th C thinkers. Copernicus, a 16th C member of the clergy, developed the heliocentric theory of the universe. Heliocentric: the sun is at the center of the universe Geocentric: Ptolemy’s idea that the earth is at the center of the universe What is attractive about each of these theories?

The Ptolemaic System Ptolemy: father of the geocentric universe in which everything revolves around the Earth Series of concentric circles; extremely complicated mathematics and ingenious explanations to make the theory work; and it did work Seemed to fit with some places in Scripture Fits our experience of the world: don’t we see the sun moving across the sky? But the complexity of it was seen as a disadvantage, especially when Copernicus’ theory was much simpler as an explanation, even if it forced us to question our experience of the world

Copernicus’ Theory Heliocentric: sun at the center Remember, it was only a hypothesis; had not yet been confirmed true, just as Ptolemy’s had never been confirmed true Extremely revolutionary idea, but was questioned ironically by the Protestant religious revolutionaries Luther and his associates thought the theory clearly contradicted Scripture; learned Catholics and bishops, however, encouraged Copernicus to publish his ideas The Scientific Revolution begins with Copernicus, and in the present day, Copernicus’ theory is still used to justify a false narrative in which religion is the enemy of science Other scientists to know: Brahe, Kepler, Harvey

Galileo Galileo – math professor at Univ. of Pisa; invented the telescope, and demonstrated that heavier bodies do not fall at faster pace Used telescope to defend Copernicus’ ideas Perceived as an enemy of the Church: the reality is more complex Promoted Coperenicus’ theory; was true and found guilty by the Holy Office for promoting the theory as a fact: was expected to treat it as a hypothesis The story of Galileo comes to symbolize the struggle against the Church, which was perceived as the enemy of science and progress This is a fantasy: the historical situation was much more complex, and the Church has always promoted science In fact, a good scientist at the time should have questioned the Copernican theory, since there were objections that it could not overcome

Philosophy and Science Francis Bacon Wanted to develop a new philosophy, “a total reconstruction of the sciences and all human knowledge raise on the proper foundation” of induction, the basis of modern science “Knowledge and human power are synonymous”- knowledge is power True knowledge comes only through experiment; purpose of science is making life easier, subjugating nature Deduction (old way) is not a valid path to knowledge; only induction (new way) gives true knowledge Rationalism: only truth is that which comes through reason empiricism: only truth is that which comes through experiment

Isaac Newton Something of a recluse, taught at Cambridge, had insights in all scientific fields, including optics and math (discovered calculus) and most known in physics Three laws of motion These laws were used as the basis for the mathematical description for how planets move (E.g., a planet moves in a straight line until it encounters the movement of the sun, making an “elliptical” or curved path) Most famous work was the “Principia Mathematica”

Isaac Newton Continued The point of his work, Newton said, was to describe how bodies move and not why Criticized by many for replacing God’s action in the world – “laws of motion” governed the world and not God, critics said Newton thought God was absolutely necessary, however Newton’s Principia became the model for all the sciences: if the motions of planets could move, according to critics, without God and on the basis of fixed laws, why couldn’t everything else? Philosophers/scientists saw themselves as trying to find laws that could explain everything, just as Newton did: Morality, growth of plants, religion, chemical reactions, and so on Thus, Newton’s Principia began the so-called “Age of Enlightenment”