Additional Information about the the Scientific Revolution

Isaac Newton 1642-1726 English mathematician, astronomer, and natural philosopher Empirical; materialist; opposed to René Descartes Sought to answer the question of how the planets moved in such an orderly fashion 1697, wrote Principia Mathematica to explain his theory of universal gravitation Every object in the universe is attracted to every other object using a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square distance between their centers Fundamentally changed science forever Created the three Laws of Motion http://astro.unl.edu/naap/pos/pos_background2.html

René Descartes 1596-1650 French Philosopher Rejected Aristotle and Scholasticism Philosophical opposite of Francis Bacon Represented the use of deductive reasoning (vs inductive) Hypotheses → particulars; pure logic Innate ideas (exist independently of observation; no observations for true knowledge) Discourse on Method and Meditations on First Philosophy

René Descartes Cont. Began in a vacuum; sought to destroy all foundations for knowledge (much like Bacon but in a different way) “Cogito ergo sum”- I think therefore I am One’s own reason is his foundation for his knowledge and his existence Reason reflects on itself and discovers innate ideas such as the fact that God exists Only innate ideas are guaranteed as true because they come from God, who cannot/would not deceive anyone God’s existence is based off of one’s own Separation between mind/spirit and matter/body [Cartesian dualism] Separates people from their bodies and the material world

Blaise Pascal 1623-1662 French philosopher Sought to unite new science and religion Emphasized that man was unworthy of God and his love/mercy; belief can only be a leap of faith stemming from reasons of the heart (not logic necessarily) Made the famous argument that it was safer to believe in God just in case God was real than to risk eternal life by not believing God is real

Witch Hunts 1400-1700 70,000-100,000 executed NOT anti-woman; however, about 80% of the witches executed were women Old unmarried women, widows, midwives, and herbalists/healers were the most suspicious groups but anyone could be accused of being a witch (including a priest or prince) Witch hunts were the product of Mass hysteria Religious or political conflict/a lack of authority The need to blame someone for bad circumstances A very religious mindset and fear about the power of the occult (devil) working in the world Both princes and the Church used the fear of witches to control the common people All that was required was the testimony of one person to begin a trial

Witch Hunts cont. https://www.maryvillecollege.edu/academics/facu lty/nlocklin-sofer/witch-hunt-rpg/

Effects of the Scientific Revolution on Europe Led directly to the Enlightenment Improvements in exploration which increased trade Spirit of experimentation which helped accelerate the Agricultural Revolution, Commercial Revolution, and Industrial Revolution Improvements in medical knowledge and in the realm of anatomy, chemistry, and microbiology Perhaps the beginning of the debate of science vs. religion, especially after the Galileo trial