Scientific Revolution

Question 1

Two Underlying Themes

Answer 1

What is the relationship between faith and reason?
Evolution of Rationalism

Question 2

Natural Philosophers

Answer 2

Previous name for scientists. Small group that drove the scientific revolution.

Question 3

4 Main Origins of the Scientific Revolution

Answer 3

(1) Naturalism: idea emerged in Renaissance art to portray the natural world, observe it, and study it as closely as possible
(2) Scholasticism: encouraged rational argument and investigation
(3) Humanism: Archimedes theory of Mechanism - natural world operates like a machine. Emphasis on measurable effects
(4) Growing interest in alchemy and astrology

Question 4

Astronomy

Answer 4

Study of celestial bodies
Initiated mainly by Aristotle and Ptolemy
Important contributors: Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton

Question 5

Geocentrism

Answer 5

Backed up by Aristotle and Ptolemy. Belief that Earth is center of the universe and solar system. Universally accepted ide

Question 6

Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)

Answer 6

Mathematician and devout Catholic who could not believe God would create a universe as chaotic as Ptolemy and Aristotle proposed. Proposed Heliocentrism but feared attack from the church

Question 7

Heliocentrism

Answer 7

Places the sun as the center of the solar system. When sun is placed at the center, with planets orbiting around it, mathematical problems disappear.

Question 8

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Answer 8

Groundbreaking astronomer. First to use a telescope to systematically study the stars. Was not afraid to challenge the relationship between faith and reason saying “The church’s role was to tell us how to go to heaven, not how heaven goes”

Question 9

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Answer 9

Believed Mechanism was inadequate for explaining the world. Established the Universal Law of Gravity. Synthesized pure mathematics and observational evidence. Considered to be the greatest contributor to physics.

Question 10

Universal Law of Gravity

Answer 10

Every particle of matter in the universe, attracts every other particle with a force varying inversely as the square of the distance between them and directly proportional to the product of their masses.

Question 11

Anti-Trinitarians

Answer 11

Isaac Newton was a secret member of this obscure sect of Protestants. Wrote several books on theology which he considered more important than his scientific work.

Question 12

John Locke

Answer 12

The Essay Concerning Human Understanding: When we are born, no knowledge is innate. Everything comes from our experience of the world after birth. We are entirely products of our environments.