May 2022 Pt.2 Flashcards
What movement made way for the Scientific Revolution?
The Renaissance.
Its focus on humanism - valuing this life, and on the revival of Classical learning
Who was Aristotle?
Ancient Greek authority on physics and nature (who got a lot wrong)
What problem was the Polish priest Copernicus trying to solve?
How to make an accurate calendar which could predict Easter
How did Copernicus solve the Easter problem?
Put the sun in the center of the universe and the Earth in orbit spinning on its axis
Describe the differences between the celestial systems:
Aristotle: Geocentric spherical orbits (Earth, moon, sun, planets, stars)
Copernicus: Heliocentric spherical orbits (Sun, planets -including Earth, stars)
Kepler: Same as Copernicus but in elliptical orbits
What did Galileo “play with” that got him into trouble?
Balls: proved different weights fall at the same rate
Telescopes: observed things in the heavens that contradicted Aristotle’s theories
Who was Tycho Brahe and what was he missing?
Astronomer/collector of celestial data / his nose
What problem did Isaac Newton solve?
Defined the unifying force (gravity) that explains how apples fall & planets stay in orbit
What did René Descartes add to scientific discovery?
Idea that universal mathematical laws define actions and logic can be used to test everything
How did Vesalius disprove ancient medical concepts?
Cut up bodies / developed science of physiology
What inventions helped scientific experimentation and observation?
Microscope, telescope, barometer, and thermometer
What “wow” spice sparked the Age of Exploration?
Pepper - made rotting meat taste okay
Which nation started the Age of Exploration?
Portugal, wanted a direct route to the Indies to bypass Venetian and Arab traders
What technologies made voyages of exploration possible and gave them an edge against
natives?
The caravel, improved charts, compass and astrolabe. / cannons
What information does an astrolabe give you?
Your latitude
What voyages did Prince Henry of Portugal sponsor?
Trips down the west coast of Africa for money and money
Who finally made it past the southern tip of Africa, naming the cape what?
Bartolomeu Dias, named it “Good Hope”
How did Pedro Cabral impact knowledge of the globe?
By sailing so far west for favorable winds he “bumped” into South America
What was Vasco da Gama’s achievement?
The first explorer to reach India, set up the standard for bad relations, and make huge profits
Who believed you could go east by going west, and who sponsored his voyage?
Christopher Columbus / Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain
How did the New World come to be called America?
For Amerigo Vespucci who mapped the coast of South America
What was Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage?
Attempt to circumnavigate the globe - faced mutiny, named the Pacific Ocean, was killed in the Philippines.
What did Europeans offer to native peoples to justify their conquests?
Christian Salvation
What prompted the importation of enslaved Africans to the Americas?
The need to replace captured natives once they died from overwork, starvation, and disease
Who conquered the Aztecs and who helped him do it?
Hernan Cortés - native enemies of the Aztecs
How did Francisco Pizarro follow in Cortés’ footsteps?
Captured the leader of the Inca and hold him for ransom just as Moctezuma had been
Despite its early advantage, what made Spain fall behind other nations as a European power?
Failure to invest wealth in industry, too many wars of religion, defeat of the Spanish Armada
Despite voyages of discovery along the coast of North America, what did the English, French and Dutch never find?
A northern sea route to Asia
What alternative became the English, French and Dutch’s source of their wealth?
Colonization, the origins of capitalism, industry and mercantilism
What were the major causes of explorers never returning home?
Ships wrecked or lost at sea
Disease - scurvy, dysentery, starvation, or fevers
Nasty natives
Being offed by one’s own men
What is the Columbian Exchange?
The mixing of plant and animal species between the Old World and the New World
What gave Europeans the advantage which allowed them to “take over the world?”
Guns, germs and steel
What movement came out of the Scientific Revolution’s focus on rationalism to solve problems?
The Enlightenment - attempt to solve all aspects of human society through logic
