1. Agenda: The Scientific Revolution
Unit 2 Essential Questions:
How did scientific discovery help to change political systems and ideas?
Can people be trusted to govern themselves or do they need a firm hand to avoid chaos and keep them safe?
LEARNING TARGET: I can compare and contrast medieval pre-scientific beliefs with the theories that emerged during the Scientific Revolution and speculate about their impact on democratic development.
HW: None.

2. The Scientific Revolution
1400s-1700s Europe

3. Before the Scientific Revolution
Most Europeans accepted the TRUTH of:
The Church
Ancient Greek logic and scholarship

4. Logic, but little experimentation
As long as theories used logical reasoning, there was little need to test them through experimentation.

5. Ptolemy 100 C.E.
Ancient Greek astronomer who claimed the universe revolved around the Earth (geocentric theory).

6. Partner/Share: Is the Scientific Method better than just winging it
Partner/Share: Is the Scientific Method better than just winging it? WHY? Use a specific example to back up your argument.

7. Priest who used his cathedral for astronomical observations.
Copernicus
Priest who used his cathedral for astronomical observations.
Wanted to explain
God’s handiwork.

8. The
Heliocentric
Theory

9. Kept his Heliocentric theory a secret
until he was on his death bed out of
fear that the Church could put him
on trial for blasphemy.
Blasphemy—A statement considered deeply offensive and sinful against established religious beliefs.

10. Kepler ( )
Identified mathematical laws that govern movement of planets.
Planets revolve the sun in elliptical orbits, NOT circles. The closer a planet was to the sun, the faster it moved. Why?
One foot in the Middle Ages: Mother put on trial for witchcraft. Astrology paid for his real scientific work.

11. Kepler lived in
Protestant Europe,
so he was safe from
arrest by the
Catholic Church.

12. Discuss with partners, then write on the board
Write a scientific idea that has caused controversy today or at some point in history. One person per table write it on the board and sign it. No repeats!
After the discussion, students are encouraged to ask online questions or write online comments about these questions. Keep it classy though…

13. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Proved that geocentric
theory was incorrect when he:
Observed that moons
orbited Jupiter too.
Proved the existence of a new planet, Neptune, not mentioned by Ptolemy.
The moon and all the planets and stars were previously considered perfect, without any craters or other blemishes on their surfaces. This was b/c of Christian beliefs that on Earth, sin is everywhere, but in Heaven, everything is perfect.

14. Galileo on Trial: Lived in Catholic Italy
Galileo on Trial: Lived in Catholic Italy. The Church put him under house arrest.

15. Cardinale Bellarmine To want to affirm that… the earth . . .
revolves with great speed about the sun . . .
is a very dangerous thing, likely… to harm
the Holy Faith by rendering Holy Scripture false.
By “world” he meant “universe.” People back then had a much smaller conception of the universe than we do today.

16. Newton .

17. The laws of motion
“An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
This law debunked Ptolemy’s claims that “heavenly forces” were pushing the planets and moons around the Earth.

18. Medieval Medicine
Relied on ancient Greek writings in the field of medicine b/c dissecting bodies was considered a sin.
Four Humors:
Blood, Phlegm, Yellow Bile, Black Bile
Sickness was caused
by an imbalance in the
humors, thus the need
for leeches.

19. Vesalius:
Founder of modern anatomy.
Many thought dissecting corpses
a sin, so he had to use dead criminals + people without families.

21. “I profess to learn and teach anatomy not from books but from
dissections….” William Harvey (proved that the heart, not
the liver, circulates blood).
His main contribution was the idea that experimentation was necessary to test the theories of the Ancient Greeks, especially Galen. In Spain, a medical researcher was burned at the stake for contradicting Galen’s teachings. Harvey was lucky to live in England.

22. QUICK WRITE
Write a 1/3-1/2 page response to the following 2 part prompt. Be sure to include relevant details + one answer to “so what?”
How did early scientists undermine the power of the Church?
Which of these ideas and/or discoveries do you think has the greatest impact on your life? WHY?
Share with
OR, if you can draw, create a 3-4 panel comic strip answering the same questions.