The Scientific Revolution (1500s-1700s)

What was the Scientific Revolution? Beginning of modern science Scientific method: Depends upon logic, observation, and reason rather than faith Created the technologies and techniques that built the modern world Many universities formed

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Earth revolves around the sun Book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres Heliocentric theory: Sun is the center of the universe

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) Danish royal astrologer Follower of Ptolemaic system Observed and mapped over 700 stars in a 20-year period

What did Brahe place an emphasis on? “To deny the power and influence of the stars is to detract from divine wisdom and influence. What more prejudiced or what sillier thought could one have about God than that He had made the most enormous and extraordinary of all heavens and a theatre of so many shining stars in vain and to no useful purpose, when no human being does even the most worthless task except for a particular purpose?” Tycho Brahe, De disciplinis mathematicis oratio, 1574

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Preferred inductive reasoning and facts over theory Invented the scientific method

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Invented the pendulum clock, thermometer, water pump, and sector Created his own telescope based on another model Discovered speed of acceleration for gravity

Rene Descartes (1595-1650) Deductive logic Deduced the existence of God Invented Cartesian geometry (xy axis) “I think therefore I am” Perception is unreliable- deduction is only tool

Who does Descartes ultimately trust? “Nevertheless, mindful of my own weakness, I make no firm pronouncements, but submit all these opinions to the authority of the Catholic Church and the judgment of those wiser than myself. And I would not wish anyone to believe anything except what he is convinced of by evident and irrefutable reasoning.” Rene Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, 1644

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) The Principia Tied up the loose ends of Kepler and Galileo Three Laws of Motion Defined gravity and its laws Invented optics and calculus Royal Society

What scientific principle is Newton describing? “Then the motions of the planets, the comets, the moon, and the sea are deduced from these forces by propositions that are also mathematical. If only we could derive the other phenomena of nature from mechanical principles by the same kind of reasoning! For many things lead me to have a suspicion that all phenomena may depend on certain forces by which the particles of bodies, by causes not yet known, either are impelled toward one another and cohere in regular figures, or are repelled from one another and recede.” Isaac Newton, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Principia), 1687.

Rise of the Scientific Community Developed the modern scientific method Universe ordered according to natural laws Discovered that scientific laws can be discovered by human reason Took the role of a deity or god out of the study of the universe Mechanical views of the universe Deistic view of God

Review Questions Describe the Scientific Revolution. Who is credited with inventing the scientific method? Who came up with the Three Laws of Planetary Motion? What famous Italian astronomer was convicted of heresy by the Inquisition? What English scientist defined gravity?