Chapter 17 Flashcards
Geocentric Theory
Belief earth is the center of the universe and all other objects orbit around it
Outdated and disproved
Theory attributed to Ptolemy
Astronomy
Marked beginnings of scientific revolution
Role in explorations of the world and human life prevailed in Middle Ages
New theories of Astronomy lead to broader scientific revolution
Aristotle
Greek philosopher who,explained the fact that some objects (such as cannonballs) fall to earth but others (stars and planets) seem weightless relative to earth because of their composition
All earthbound matter (like cannonballs) fall because naturally attracted to earth - heaviness property of earthbound things
Believed earth was center of universe
Ptolemy
Presented astronomical model in convenient tables which could be used to compute the future or past positions of the planets
Many assertions in his geography or disproved
Believed earth was the center of the universe
Gregorian Calendar
Western and Christian calendar most widely accepted and used civil calendar
Was a reform to the Julian calendar
Motivation for calendar was Easter
Nicholas Copernicus
Polish astronomer who initiated the scientific revolution by proposing that Earth and other planets orbit the sun
Copernicus account simpler than Ptolemy
Believed earth was not center of universe
Work on calendar to include Easter
Heliocentric theory
Means “sun centered” theory of Nicholas Copernicus that Earth and other planets orbit the sun
Johannes Kepler
German astronomer who developed three laws of planetary motion known as Kepler’s laws which mathematically confirmed the Copernican heliocentric theory
Confirmed elliptical motion of planets
Galileo Galilei
Invented telescope
Italian physicist and astronomer provided evidence supporting the heliocentric theory and helped develop the science of mechanics
Supported Copernican theory
Contributed to development of a new physics
Wrote book Dialog on the Two Chief Systems of the World
Rene Descates
French philosopher and mathematician who emphasized skepticism and deductive reasoning in his most influential treaties, Discourse on Method
He offered the first alternative physical explanation of matter after the Copernican revolution
Deductive reasoning
Mechanistic World-View
17th Century philosophical view that saw the world as a machine that functions in strict obedience to physical laws without purpose or will
Francis Bacon
England’s lord chancellor during the reign of James I and author of influential works encouraging the empirical scientific method and inductive reasoning
Wrote Utopian essay extolling the benefits of science for a peaceful society and for human happiness
Wrote New Atlantis
Argued science would produce things of use and practice for man’s life and science by advocating patient, systematic observation and experimentation to accumulate knowledge about the world
Empirical method
Philosophical view developed by Bacon and Locke which holds that all knowledge is based on observation and experimentation and that general principles should be derived from particular facts
Isaac Newton
English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher
Hiss mathematical computation of the laws of gravity and planetary motion, which he combined with a fully developed theory of inertia completed the explanation for motion initiated by Nicholas Copernicus
Copernican Revolution reached highest point with work of Newton
Gravity keeps planets in motion
Robert Boyle
17th Century natural philosopher
Puritan learning theoretically eclectic drawing on Cartesian mechanics and even Paracelsian chemical series
Attacked English university system
Proposed reform on education
Formed core of the Royal Society of London
Published “New Experiments Physico-Mechanical”
Efforts to demonstrate a vacuum could exist
