1. The Scientific Revolution
Chapter 17
SSWH13 – The student will examine the intellectual, political, social, and economic factors that changed the world view of Europeans
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Mr. Epps
World History, Chapter 17
SSWH13

2. Beginnings of Revolution…
Guide to the natural world was from Greco-Roman texts and the Bible before the Scientific Revolution
The Renaissance and the Gutenberg printing press circulated scientific texts to Western Europe; the birth of the “natural philosopher” had begun
Related to SSWH9 – The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance and Reformation.

3. Beginnings of Revolution…
Aristotle was greatest authority on physics, in which the four elements came into being
Foundational elements are Fire, Water, Air and Earth
Only God can make new beings and the heavens are fixed in crystalline spheres
Relate to SSWH3 – The student will examine the political, philosophical, and cultural interaction of Classical Mediterranean societies from 700 BCE to 400 CE.

4. Revolutionary Advances in Math
Nicholas Copernicus ( )
Polish mathematician who came up with the idea that the universe was “heliocentric" (sun-centered) and the moon revolved around the Earth
Copernicus’ model caused individuals to question Biblical and Greek principles about the universe
Tycho Brahe ( ) and Johannes Kepler ( ) strengthened Copernicus’ model; stated that planets move in elliptical (egg-shaped), not circular, patterns
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- Copernicus, a native of Poland, was a mathematician who thought that his “heliocentric”, or sun-centered, idea of the universe provided a more accurate explanation than that of Ptolemy
- Ptolemy, who lived during the 100s CE, was the greatest astronomer of antiquity, stated that the universe was “geocentric” (revolved around the Earth)
- Kepler was a German mathematician who further eroded the Ptolemaic system; used detailed astronomical data to explain his laws of planetary motion; Kepler’s First Law is that the planets’ orbits were elliptical and not the circular orbits foundational to the Ptolemaic system -

5. Galileo Galilei ( )
Siderius Nuncius: “The Starry Messenger (1610)
Galileo Telescope
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- An Italian scientist and mathematician who was the first European to make regular observations of the heavens using a telescope; he discovered mountains on Earth’s moon, four moons revolving around Jupiter and sunspots; his observations included that Heavenly objects were made of physical substances, just as Earth was, as opposed to orbs of light; Galileo’s observations were published in The Starry Messenger in 1610; Galileo fell under suspicion from the Catholic Church, who urged him to abandon the Copernican position

6. Sunspots & the sun’s rotation
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Sunspots & the sun’s rotation
The moon has craters and mountains, drawings of Galileo from telescope

7. Copernicus died before being put on trial (1543)
Galileo and Copernicus were Roman Catholic and directly contradicted the Church’s Biblical foundations in science
Copernicus died before being put on trial (1543)
Galileo was put on trial in the 1630s and was seen as a heretic for his findings; Galileo was insistent on his work, led him to be viewed as a criminal by the Roman Catholic Church
His works were not approved by the Vatican and the Pope until the late 20th century (1990s).
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8. Isaac Newton ( )
Wrote Principia, which contains the three Laws of Motion and the universal law of gravitation
Newton continued Galileo’s work (Calculus/Physics)
Page 541
- Educated and, later, a professor at Cambridge University in England; wrote Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, better known as the Prinicipia
- Defined the three laws of motion that govern the planetary bodies and objects on Earth
- Key concept of his position was the universal law of gravitation, which states that every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity
- Newton’s work created a new picture of the universe that was now viewed as one large, orderly, uniform body that worked according to natural laws; his work was the key concept until Albert Einstein’s concept of relativity gave a new picture of the universe