Module 2a: Intellectual Revolutions that Defined Society Flashcards
This is a fundamental change of perspective or view; this involves paradigm shifting.
Revolution
The uses of astronomy are to tell time, to determine the seasons, serves as calendars and navigation, and to predict the future (like eclipse and rainfall)
Astronomy before Copernicus
True or False: Greeks rely on supernatural explanations.
False
Greeks used mathematics, logic,
and reasoning in matters of astronomy.
True or False: The pyramids are built to line up with the stars, and their religion often revolves around astronomical objects.
True
They continued to develop math and astronomy, even when Europe fell into the Dark Ages. Aside from that, Algebra and the concept of the algorithm were developed.
Arabic Science
Many stars were Arabic names, typically those that has
“Al” in their names just like “Algol” and “Alberio”.
True or False: Aristotle believed that everything in the universe should be perfect, and that the universe was that of a
Geocentric (Earth-centered) model.
True
It was called Aristotelian Model.
In Ptolemaic model (which is also geocentric), smaller circles called ______ more around bigger circles called the ______.
small circles - epicycles
bigger cycles - deferent
True or False: Epicycle is smaller circle that planet is on.
True
Earth is not quite at the center and the Equant sat
opposite of the Earth.
Ptolemy’s mathematical model and observations was so compelling even when Copernicus had presented heliocentric model, Ptolemy’s was used because it has higher predictive power. Thus, it was used for 1500 years.
The idea of _______ (planets orbit the sun) is much older.
Heliocentrism
It can be traced to Aristarchus of Samos, a Hellenistic author writing in the 3rd century BC, who may in
turn have been drawing on even older concepts in and accepted in Aristotelianism.
Copernicus’s own system had multiple shortcomings that would have to be amended and explained by later astronomers like _______ and _____.
Kepler and Galileo
He proposed a
“geo-heliocentric” system.
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
What is a geo-heliocentric system?
The Sun and Moon orbited the Earth, while the other planets orbited the Sun.
This idea provided a safe position for astronomers who were dissatisfied with older models but were reluctant to accept heliocentrism.
His work aimed to make astrology “more certain” by basing it on new physical and
harmonic principles.
After Tycho’s death, he used Tycho’s data to back up his solar hypothesis. He discovered three laws of planetary motion.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
What are the three laws of planetary motion?
o the planets revolve in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus;
o the time needed to traverse any arc of a planetary orbit is proportional to the area of
the sector between the central body and that arc (“area law”);
o there is an exact relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times and
the cubes of the radii of their orbits (“harmonic law”).
He has been called the “Father of Observational Astronomy”.
Unlike the popular belief, he was not the one who invented the telescope, rather he improved it. He championed heliocentrism based on his astronomical observations.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
True or False: Galileo’s writings on heliocentrism had him accused of attempting to reinterpret the Bible. In spite of controversy, he championed the Copernican model and gathered evidence to support it.
True
When his critics confronted him with biblical objections to the motion of the Earth, he argued that
heliocentrism was not contrary to biblical texts, and that the Bible was an authority on faith and morals, not science
What is Galileo’s response to these objections:
If Earth is moving, birds, clouds, and etc, would fall off as Earth moved.
Physics experiments leading to Newton’s first law of motion.
What is Galileo’s response to these objections:
Heavens are perfect (circular orbits).
Imperfections: sunspots, moon not a perfect sphere.
Orbits are elliptical, not circular (Kepler).
What Galileos response to this?
If Earth orbits, parallax should have been observed.
Parallax were negligible because stars were so distant.
Parallax is the apparent displacement or the difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points not on a straight line with the object.
He wrote Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics (1802). He proposed that environmental events could cause a response in organisms that can be inherited and passed on to generations.
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
He wrote an essay on the Principle of Populations (1798). He argued that a growing population will eventually outgrow its resources if left unchecked. His essay greatly inspired Darwin’s ideas on Evolution.
Thomas Robert Malthus
He suggested that old forms had become extinct as a result of successive floods and new forms had each time taken their places.
Cuvier
He wrote Principles of Geology (1830-33), revived Hutton’s principle of slow geological change, and presented a classic explanation of development over millions of years.
Charles Lyell
This idea wherein species remained unchanged was called the
Through simple animal husbandry, it was shown how it was not true; a “pup” could have a slightly different (and inherited) look from its parents.
Immutability of the species
Scientists of this time period and before thought that Saint Bernards, dachshunds, and chihuahuas always existed. Following that logic, it meant that these breeds of dog lived throughout history, essentially unchanged.
Darwin showed that living organisms can adapt to changes in their surroundings through a process he called
Natural Selection
He observed that the species in the islands were diversified yet at the same time, share common characteristics.
Charles Darwin; Galapagos Islands
Origin of Species tackled on “Descent with Modification”, known as ________.
Evolution
It basically unifies all life forms, suggesting that all organisms are related through a distant
ancestor. Over time, organisms diversify because of “Natural Selection” and adaptation.
Natural selection and adaptation occur because of the following: (3)
a) capacity for “overproduction” of offspring;
b) a struggle for survival; and
c) variability in population favors some individuals over others.
Geographic proximity of similar but distinct species.
Homologies: structural, developmental, and genetic.
This evidence is for what?
Evidence that Species are Related.
Law of succession
-In a given geographic region, species are succeeded by similar species
Evidence of extinctions in the fossil record
- Vestigial traits - traits that seem to have no apparent function at present-day but
appear to have been remnants from a past ancestor.
This evidence is for what?
Evidence that Species Change over Time.
True or False:
Early Beginnings of Psychology: Relation of mind to body
They believed that mind and body are connected:
a. The Hebrews
b. Aristotle
c. Socrates
False
It was Augustine and not Socrates.
