Scientific Revolution Flashcards
Medieval view of World
Primarily religious and theological; Political theory based on “divine” right of kings; society governed by church views, traditions and practices; Supersition played a major role
Scientific thoughs in early 16th century based on…
mediveval ideas; views about the universe were largely influenced by ancient ideas of Aristotle; geocentric view ; Science branch of theology
Causes of Scientific Revoltution
Medieval universities; Rediscovering ancient mathematics
Medieval universities
Philosphy had become an accepted discipline; Medieval philiosophers developed a degree of independence from theologians and a sense of free inquiry; Leading universities established new professorships of mathematics, astronomy, and physics w/in their departments of philosophy; Major scientific figures either studied or taught at universities
The Renaissance stimulated science by…
rediscovering ancient mathematics
Renaissance patronage was….as well as artistic and humanistic
scientific
Navigational problems on sea voyages in the age of overseas expansion creaded a need…
for scientific advances
New instruments
telescope, barometer, thermometer, pendulum, clock, microscope, and air pump
Graham College (England)
Scientists worked closely with top officials in Royal Navy and leading merchants and shipbuilders; It became the main center of scientific activity during the first half of 17th century
Scientific metholody
Bacon Formalized empirical, experimental research; Descartes emphasized deductive reasoning
Secularism
emerged and many educated people became openly hostile to religion
The revolution in learning became…
a major foundation in western society
Nicolaus Copernicus
“On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres;” postponed publication of his book fearing a backlash by the scientific community; dedicated the book to Pope Pault 111 and did not intend for his theires to challenge Church doctrine; Heliocentric view
Heliocentric view
Copernicus argued that Earth revolved around the Sun and that the sun was the center of the universe; obserev that the stars didn’t move although the apparent movement of the stars was the result of the earth’s rotation; Made universe see ENOURMOUS
A major anomaly in Heliocentric theory
retrograde motion of planets relative to the earth’s position; Was remedied by the false premise of epicycles
Copernicus directly challenged…
Ptolemy’s view of geocentric universe; Challenged the Bible’s book of Genesis
Religious reaction to the Copernican Theory…
Martin Luther + John Calvin condemmed the theory (b/c all about going back to original scripture); Catholic reaction was initially less forcefull b/c Church didn’t always interpret the Bible literally
Tycho Brahe
Europe’s best astronomer; Build the best observatory in EUrope and fo decades collected massive data on his observations of the COSMOS; Data became a cornerstone of astronomy for centures; Data later proved Copernicus’s theory (though he did not accept the view)
Johann Kepler
first great Protestant scientist who earlier had worked as an assistant to Brahe; Proved the Copernican theory mathematically; Laws of Planetary Motion
Three laws of planetary motion
- Orbits are elliptical; 2. Planets don’t move at uniform speeds while in their orbits; 3. The time it takes for a planet to orbit the sun is directly based on its distance form the sun
Galileo Galilei
developed the laws of motion using the experimental method; Acceleration experiment; Law of Inertia
Acceleration experiment
gravity was a universal force that produced unofrm acceleration; All falling objects descend w/ equal velocity regardless of their weight
Law of Inertia
an object that is in motion remains in motion unitl it is stopped by an external force
Galilei validated…
Copernicus’ heliocentric view with the aid of telescope; First to use telescope as a scientific instrument; Demonstrated that the moon and other planets were not perfectly round orbs like a crystal sphere (the prevailing Medieval view); He discovered the 4 moons of Jupiter
Galileo’s findings became controversial in…
Catholic Countries; Views largely supported in Portestant N. Europe where reformers had questioned Catholic Doctrines; Catholic Church declared the Copernican theory to be heretical
The Inquistion Pope Urban VII forced…
Galileo to reatract his support of the Copernican theory; Galileo remained under hous arrest for rest of his life
Isaac Newton
Integrated the astronomy of Copernicus and Kepler with the physics of Galileo into an overarching theory of the universe worked; “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosopy”
Principal of Universal Gravitation
Deatailed in “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy;” Perhaps the greatest book on science ever written; Newton developed set of mathematical principles to explain motion
Newton’s idea that directly challenged Medieval beliefs…
Every body in the universe attract every other body in the univese in a precise mathematical relationship; Thus these natural laws are unchangable and predictable, and God’s active participation in the natural world is not needed to explain the forces of nature; View became foundation of the Enlightenment view of God (Deism)
Who invented Calculus?
Newton in order to complete his theory
Francis Bacon
Formalized the empirical method that has been already been used by Brahe and Galileo; Inductive method
Inductive method
For scientific experimentation; Begin w/ inductive observation then form a hypothesis, conduct experiments and then organize the data
Bacon’s inductive method with Descartes deductive reason formed backbone of the….
modern Scientific method
Rene Descartes
“Discourse on Method;” Advocated the use of deductive reasoning; “I think therefore I am;” Used deductive reasoning to prove his existence; Developed analytical geomety; Cartesian Dualism
Cartesian Dualism
divided all existence into the spiritual and the material; The spiritual can only be examined through deductive reasoning (logic); While the material is subject to the experimental method
Modern Scientific Method
inductive method and the deductive method
Who created the geocentric view?
Ptolemy
Roman physician
Galen
Galen’s theories of health and disease
Believed a proper balance of the four humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) were basis of human health; Blood leaching used to bring humors back into proper balance
Paracelsus
Swiss physician and alchemist; Pioneer in medicine; Experimented with the use of various chemicals and drugs to deal with medical issues that he saw as chemical imbalances rather than humoral imbalances
Vesalius wrote…
“The Structure of the Human Body”
Vesalius
Flemish physician; book renewed and modernized the study of human anatomy which included 200 detailed drawlings that ushered in a revolution in the understanding of human body; Dissected cadavers to achieve stunning detail in drawings
Vesalius was the first to…
assemble human skeletons
William Harvey
English Royal Physician; “On the Circulation of Blood;” His book explained how blood was pumped by the heart and circulated throughout the body via veins and arteries
William Harvey wrote…
“On the Circulation of Blood”
Anton van Leeuvenhoek
“Father of Microscopy;” Developed powerful microscopes; First to see and write about bacteria, yeast, plants, living organism, in a drop of water and the circulation of blood in corpuscle in capillaries
Royal Scientific Socities
Governments/Monarchs encouraged scientific inquiry as a means to further the prestige of the state and remain at the cutting edge of technology; Created a means which Scientist could communicate with each other internationally; Helped forge an international Scientific Community
Royal Society
England; The most successful and Prestigious scientific society
Consequences of Scientific Revolution
Led directly to Enlightenment; Improvements in Exploration; Experimentation helped accelerate the Agricultural Revolution; Imporvements in medical knowledge later led to Medical advances
The Scientific Revoltution reducted the support for witch hunts by….
discrediting supersition and witchcraft as fallacies
Science and Religion….
Not in acute conflict until the 18th/19th centuries; Scientists believed they were studying and analyzing God’s creation; But, after the Catholic Counter Reformation, Church became more hostile to science and science declined in Italy (but not france)
After Counter Catholic Reformation…
The Protestant countries became the leaders of the scientific revolution (especially England)
John Harrison
Invented Chronometer (seawatch); Gave Mariners the ability to easily determine longitude
Alchemy and astrology
Continued to appeal to elites and some natural philosophers because they shared w/ the new science the notion of a predictable and knowable universe
Alchemy
the medival forerunner of modern chemistry; Dealt with the supposed transformation of matter into gold or finding a universal elixir that would restore one’s youth
No clear line between…
Alchemy and Chemistry exister
Paracelsus mixed…
magic and valid science in ways that defied modern science
Gerolamo Cardano
a pioneer of algebra; Subscribed to alchemy
Isaac Newton and alchemy
He devoted more time writing about alchemy than either optics or physics
Who did Gerolamo Cardano prepare horoscopes for?
Edward VI of England
Where was Brahe the court astrologer?
In Denmark
Kepler was the astrologer to the…
Austrian Hapsburgs
Galileo provided horoscope to the…
Medici
Astrology experienced a decline
during and after the Enlightenment
Oral Culture of Peasants
Believed that the cosmos was governed by divine and demonic forces; Everything in the universe seemed interconnected; Why witch hunts continued well into 17th century
Women interested in science had to…
obtain largely informal education
England and French Women scientist
nobility
Margaret Cavendish
One of First Major Female Science Writers; Helped popularize ideas of the scientific revolution; excluded from membership of Royal Society; Taught herself mathematics, astronomy, and the study of universe.
Maria Merian
Naturalist, and important entomologist; Expedition into the wilds of the Dutch colony in South America; “Metamoramorphis of the Insects of Surnam”
Maria Winkelmann
Astronomer in Germany; Discovered a comet
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton all believed…
that the secrets of nature were written in the language of mathematics
hermeticism
Belief that World was a living embodiment of divinity; Math could used to explain the magic and divinity; Universe constructed on the basis of geometric figures
Where were the greatest achievements during the Revoltion and what idea were they dominated by?
Astronomy, mechanics, and medicine; All dominated by ideas of Greeks
Who were the first to attch the new ideas of Heliocentrism?
Protestant reformers
Galileo and the Inquisition
Catholic Church condemned Copernicanism (heliocentrism) and ordered Galileo to reject the copernican thesis; He recanted but was still under house arrest for the rest of his life
