The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment Toward a New Worldview The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment

Introduction Profound change in the European world-view in the late 16th and 17th centuries Primary cause was the Scientific Revolution (1543-present) The most profound change in human history? New intellectual climate differed from medieval & early modern world-view: Rejection of authority “Best” knowledge was practical Demystification of the universe Scientists of this era differed from predecessors in combining mathematics and experiment -rejection of authority. Mostly Church authority, several crises contributed to this. -”best” authority was practical. Bacon: “purpose of knowledge was to ease man’s estate” Descartes: purpose of knowledge “to make us, as it were, masters and possessors of nature” Demystification of the universe: e.g., heavenly realm above the moon was no longer of eternal bodies that had no matter or weren’t physical Experiment was different from Observation, which the ancient did.

Scientific Thought in 1500 The Aristotelian/Ptolemaic Universe Geocentric 10 separate, transparent, crystal spheres First 8 held the moon, sun, planets, stars Heaven lay beyond the 10th sphere Angels kept the spheres moving Common sense backs this up. The sun appears to move around the Earth The Church invested greatly in this world-view God had deliberately placed earth at the center of the universe Earth was special The Church invested greatly in this world-view: put man in the center of the universe, most important part of God’s creation

The Geocentric (Ptolemaic) Universe                                                                                                    The Geocentric (Ptolemaic) Universe The Geocentric Universe

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish monk Observed patterns of star and planet movement for 25 years On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies (1543) Heliocentric Theory Called into question the literal truth of the Scriptures Copernicus waited until he was near death to publish his findings. Called into question the literal truth of the Scriptures. There are a few passages where God, for example, makes the sun stand still. This implies that the earth is still and the sun moves around it.

The Heliocentric (Copernican) Universe

C. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Mathematical laws govern the motion of the planets Elliptical orbits Planets do not move at uniform speeds in their orbits