AP European History Chapter 16 Toward a new heaven and a new earth: the scientific revolution and the emergence of modern science

Focus questions What developments during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance contributed to the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century? What did Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton contribute to a new vision of the universe, and how did it differ from the Ptolemaic conception of the universe. What role did women play in the Scientific Revolution? What problems did the Scientific Revolution present for organized religion, and how did both the church an the emerging scientists attempt to solve these problems? How were the ideas of the Scientific Revolution disseminated, and what impact did they have on society? In what ways were the intellectual, political, social, and religious developments of the seventeenth century related?

Background to the Scientific Revolution God’s Handiwork Many educated Europeans took an intense interest in the world around them since it was, after all, “God’s handiwork” and therefore an appropriate subject for study.

“Natural Philosophers” (Medieval Scientists) The subjection of these thinkers to a strict theological framework and their unquestioning reliance on a few ancient authorities, especially Aristotle and Galen, limited where they could go. “Natural Philosophers” (Medieval Scientists) preferred refined logical analysis to systematic observations of the natural world.

Renaissance Humanists mastered Greek as well as Latin and made available new works of Galen, Ptolemy, and Archimedes as well as Plato and the pre-Socratics.

Renaissance Artists credited with making an impact of scientific study. Desire to imitate nature led them to rely on a close observation of nature.

Renaissance Artists frequently called on to be practicing mathematicians as well.

Leonardo da Vinci devised “war machines”

Albrecht Durer Made designs for the fortifications of cities.

The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries witnessed a proliferation of books dedicated to machines and technology espoused the belief that innovation in techniques was necessary.

Invention of New Instruments and War Machines, such as the… telescope microscope often made new scientific discoveries possible.

Printing Press Had an indirect but crucial role in spreading innovative ideas quickly and easily.

Mathematics was promoted in the Renaissance by the rediscovery of the works of ancient mathematicians and the influence of Plato.

Mathematics was applauded as the key to navigation, military science, and geography, the Renaissance also held the widespread belief that mathematics was they key to understanding the nature of things.

In the words of Leonardo da Vinci: “There is no certainty where one can neither apply any of the mathematical sciences nor any of those which are based upon the mathematical sciences.”

Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton were all great mathematicians who believed that the secrets of nature were written in the language of mathematics.

Do you believe in magic? Another factor in the origins of the Scientific Revolution may have been magic. Renaissance magic was the preserve of an intellectual elite from all of Europe. By the end of the sixteenth century, Hermetic magic had become fused with alchemical thought into a single intellectual framework. Humans, who it was believed also had that spark of divinity within, could use magic, especially mathematical magic, to understand and dominate the world of nature or employ the powers of nature for beneficial purposes.

The histories of the Scientific frequently overlook the fact that the great names we associate with the revolution in cosmology- Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton- all had a serious interest in Hermetic ideas and the fields of astrology and alchemy. The mention of these names also reminds us of one final consideration in the origins of the Scientific Revolution: it largely resulted from the work of a handful of great intellectuals.