1. 17 th Century, Century of Genius In the early 1500’s those who probed into the secrets of nature did so in the dark, isolated from one another and from the general public, working often times by trial and error, not all together clear on what they were trying to do. By 1727 when Newton died scientific men were in continual touch with each other and the scientific method had been defined.

2. Michel de Montaigne 1533-1592 “What do I know” During this time there had developed a great deal of skepticism, a constantly doubting frame of mind, which held that no certain knowledge is possible for human beings at all, that all beliefs are essentially only customs, that some people believe one thing and others another and there is no sound way of choosing between them.

3. Scientific View of the World Prophets of a scientific civilization: Rene Descartes and Sir Francis Bacon

4. Bacon and descartes Both asked how it was possible for human beings to know anything with certainty Both branded all beliefs of the preceding generations (outside of religion) as worthless Both rejected the methods of the scholastics Both saw truth as something that is we find at the end after a long process of experiment and investigation Both maintained that there was a true and reliable method of knowledge

5. Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626 Novum Organum 1620 Inductive Reasoning Empiricism Not a pure Scientist Failed to grasp importance of Math

6. Francis Bacon 1620 published Novum Organum or new method of acquiring knowledge. He insisted on the use of the inductive method- where one discovers truth by moving from the particular to the general, the concrete to the abstract Look at the world with fresh eyes, observe and study all things that are perceived by the senses.

7. Bacon, cont. Empiricism Bacon became a leading philosopher of empiricism –The founding of knowledge on observation and experience

8. Bacons weakness Failure to understand the role of mathematics in science. Math often uses deductive reasoning- dealing with abstractions and proceeding from axioms to theorems-was not an inductive or empirical method as demanded by Bacon

9. Rene Descartes 1596-1650 Discourse on Method 1637 Systematic Doubt Cogito ergo sum Cartesian dualism –Thinking substance –Extended substance

10. Rene Descartes Considered the inventor of coordinate geometry Believed that the vast world of nature could be reduced to mathematical form. In his Discourse on Method 1637 Descartes advanced the principle of systematic doubt Cogito ergo sum “ I think therefore I am” Cartesian Dualism –Two realities Thinking substance (deductive) and Extended substance (Inductive)

11. Cogito Ergo Sum Skepticism is thereby defeated, according to Descartes. No matter how many skeptical challenges are raised—indeed, even if things are much worse than the most extravagant skeptic ever claimed—there is at least one fragment of genuine human knowledge: my perfect certainty of my own existence. From this starting-point, Descartes supposed, it is possible to achieve indubitable knowledge of many other propositions as well.knowledge

12. Development of Astronomy as Science Aristotle 384-322 BC Aristarchus of Samos 200 BC Ptolemy 150 AD Copernicus 1473-1543 Tycho Brahe 1546-1601 Johannes Kepler 1571-1630 Galileo 1564-1642 Isaac Newton 1642-1727

13. Aristotle Earth was seen as imperfect and situated at the center of the Universe (Geocentric) Composed of 4 elements earth, water, air, fire

14. Aristotle, cont. Planets move in circular motion Aristotles views were “Christianized” by the 13 th century, it became the basis for University on the subject.

15. Ptolemy- Geocentric Earth; immovable at the center of the universe Order; earth, moon, Mercury, venus, sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Enclosed by sphere of fixed stars Planetary spheres moved with the aid of God.

16. Ptolemaic system

17. Copernicus Heliocentric “On the revolutions of Heavenly Orbs (Spheres)” Book published at the end of his life Questioned Ptolemaic system for its math –Heliocentric easier to explain than geocentric Accepted circular orbits

18. Copernican System

19. Tycho Brahe -Danish Provided most accurate DATA with regard to planetary location Had Johannes Kepler as his apprentice

20. " The 10th of december 1566 there was a dance at Lucas Bacmeisters house in the connection to a wedding. Lucas Bacmeister was a professor of theology at the univeristy of Rostock where Tycho studied. Among the guests were Tycho Brahe and another danish nobleman, Manderup Parsberg. They started an argument and they separated in anger. The 27th of december this argument started again, and in the evening of the 29th of december a duel was held. It was around 7 in the evening and in darkness. Parsberg gives Tycho a cut over his nose that took away almost the front part of his nose. Tycho had an artificial nose made, not from wax, but from an alloy of gold and silver[*] and put it on so skillfully, that it looked like a real nose Wilhelm Janszoon Blaeu, who spent time with Tycho for nearly two years, also said that Tycho used to carry a small box with a paste or glue, with which he often would put on the nose." The Nose

21. The Bladder Although popular legend holds that Brahe died from uraemia and complications due to a ruptured bladder following too large a meal, recent research (Pallon 1996) points to mercury poisoning as the more probable cause. Following Brahe's death, Kepler obtained possession of Brahe's observations, and devoted himself to analyzing them. Brahe is reported to have written his own epitaph: "He lived like a sage and died like a fool"

22. Johannes Kepler Showed that Copernicus, Ptolemy and Aristotle’s view of circular orbits did not match data Discovered elliptical orbit. No epicycles. Kepler’s Three Laws of Planetary Motion

23. LAW 1: The orbit of a planet/comet about the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun's center of mass at one focus

24. LAW 2: A line joining a planet/comet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time

25. LAW 3: The squares of the periods of the planets are proportional to the cubes of their semimajor axes: Ta2 / Tb2 = Ra3 / Rb3

26. Galileo Planets had been thought of as orbs Galileo’s telescope –Moon was rough, mountainous, not a luminous object –Jupiter had moons (satellites)

27. Galileo Where Kepler had found mathematical laws describing the movement of planets, Galileo found laws describing the movement of bodies on earth. Leaning Tower of Pisa

28. Isaac Newton Synthesized Kepler and Galileo Universal law of Gravitation “Principia” Developed Calculus

29. Societal Impact Man was no longer the center of creation The old cosmos comfortably enclosed and ranked in ascending order of purity, gave way to a cosmos that seemed to consist of an infinite emptiness.