The Scientific Revolution The Big Picture: a new way of thinking based on experimentation and observation changed the way Europeans looked at the world

I. Changing Views of the Universe (mid-1500s) Nicolaus Copernicus- sun-centered model of the universe i. Tycho Brahe provided evidence to support heliocentric model ii. Johannes Kepler used Brahe’s data to calculate orbits of the planets revolving around the sun that supported the heliocentric model

b. Galileo Galilei- built an astronomical telescope i. Observations prove the Earth moved around the sun ii. 1633 tried by the Inquisition 1. Threatened with death unless he withdrew his “heresies” 2. muttered as he left the court, “It does move”

II. New Scientific Method (early 1600s) a. Step-by-Step Process b. Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes i. Truth is not known at the beginning of inquiry but at the end after a long process of investigation

ii. Bacon- stressed experimentation & observation iii. Descartes- human reasoning leads to understanding; “I think, therefore I am.”

c. Isaac Newton i. Used mathematics to show that a single force keeps the planets in their orbits around the sun: gravity ii. 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

1. explained the law of gravity 2. helped develop calculus