Scientific Revolution + Human Body Flashcards
Which types of sciences are considered in the Scientific Revolution?
Mathematics
Physics
Astronomy
What was the major contribution of the Scholastics and other Medieval Scientists? Why was that age not considered revolutionary?
they mostly assimilated Greek and Islamic science into Christian and European frameworks but they didn’t really do a lot of their own direct studies of nature - some of the Medieval scientists outside of the tradition did though like Hildegard and Frederick II
What stimulated science in the 15th and 16th centuries?
Medieval technology
Explain these sentences: ‘Science can exist without extensive technology and technology can exist without science. Science needs literacy, but technology does not.’
Science can exist without extensive technology = the ancient Greeks did science without technology like microscopes and telescopes
technology can exist without science = lots of technology was produced during the Middle Ages that weren’t the product of science because the only literate people were of the Church and the Church didn’t care for technological advancements
Science needs literacy, but technology does not = technology and its uses can be practically or verbally demonstrated, whereas science cannot be
What is the Antikythera device?
An ancient Greek device that was an analogue computer used to calculate astronomical events with gears recovered from a trade vessel shipwreck
What other medieval technology has been important for later science?
grain and milling
stamping of currency on coins
modified catapults and military tech
windmills
wine presses were modified into printers
metals were key for farming in Northern Europe and wood in south
eye glasses
Why did the church lose control of science during the scientific revolution?
because science became established in technology and commerce, rather than written scholarship or the Church as it had been previously
When was the scientific revolution?
15th and 16th centuries (after the Black Plague in the 14th century)
Who initiated the Protestant Reformation?
Martin Luther in the 16th century
What was the Reformation?
the separation of western European Christianity into Catholic and Protestant camps
via anti-authoritarianism, independence of the human mind, and individualism
caused the War of Religion
Who was Martin Luther?
the initiator of the Reformation in the 16th century
Who was Johannes Gutenberg?
in the 15th century, accredited for popularizing the printing press (did not invent it, but made it accessible)
What was the significance of the printing press in the 15th century?
involved movable letters made of durable metal which could be used as stamps (instead of handwriting)
increased accuracy
it was inexpensive (comparatively to handwritten)
increased literacy
allowed for good, informative illustrations to be repeated
altered intergenerational relationships (no longer just received information from previous generation)
allowed for individualism and independent thought
no central authority controlling information - printing shops became prolific (inexpensive investment) = did not need the church
What was coffee’s role in the scientific revolution?
introduced in the 16th and 17th centuries
opposite of alcohol as it clarified the mind
so popular it created a political subculture
Who were the major contributors to astronomy, physics, and mathematics during the scientific revolution?
Copernicus
Johannes Kepler
Galileo
Isaac Newton
Who was Copernicus?
an astronomer in the 15th century who wrote a book on the heliocentric model of the solar system (died before publishing)
known as the guy who ignited the scientific revolution
Who was Johannes Kepler?
an astronomer in the 16th-17th centuries that showed the elliptical orbit of planets (not circular as previously thought)
Who was Galileo Galilei? what did his work emphasize?
an astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher of science in the 16-17th centuries
one of the first Europeans to use a telescope (did not invent) and discovered the celestial imperfections (sunspots, mountains on moon, and Jupiter’s moons) = unveiled the ‘perfection of the heavens’ which Aristotle believed in
he emphasized the importance of mathematics and quantitative science
Who was Sir Isaac Newton?
a 17th-18th century astronomer, physicist, mathematician, philosopher of science
popularized the idea that universe operates according to simple, universal, quantitative laws (parsimony)
explained by the elliptical orbit of the planets
determined the relationship between gravity, sun, moon and the tidal patterns
What influence did Newton’s work have on science? How did this affect historical sciences like biology and geology?
the idea that the universe operates according to simple, universal, and quantitative laws was so successful and powerful that it became the MODEL for what science should be doing
probably caused biologists and geologists to waste a lot of time in search of these universal laws, which have since been realized to not be applicable to historical sciences
Who was Leonardo Da Vinci?
a Renaissance artist from the 15-16th centuries who finished few projects and never published any of his scientific work - not as influential as he could have been
a polymath, painter and illustrator, musician, anatomist
What was Da Vinci’s main influence in biology/medicine?
his incorporation and study of anatomy into his art
he did his own legal dissections to study human anatomy
Who was Andreas Vesalius?
A precocious anatomist in the 16th century
wrote the first accurate high-quality book of about human anatomy ‘On the Fabric of the Human Body’
What book was published the same year as Vesalius’ On the Fabric of the Human Body?
Copernicus’ On the Motions of Heavenly Bodies - about the heliocentric model of the solar system
What Copernicus was to ____, Vesalius was to_____
Copernicus was to Ptolemy (astronomy), Vesalius was to Galen (anatomy)
What did Vesalius not agree with in Galenic anatomy? What did they agree on?
He realized that Galen never did dissections of human bodies, so there were many discrepancies
his anatomy understanding went way beyond Galen’s, but his physiology did not - they both understood blood flow to be tidal (no circulation)
they both thought that human body was designed perfectly by God
Which famous university did Vesalius and many other anatomists attend?
University of Padua in Italy
How did Vesalius acquire bodies for his class dissections? How did this create a gender bias in his studies?
death and dissection was a punishment for terrible crimes
self-reported grave-robbing
most criminals committing heinous crimes and being sentenced were adult males, so there were few dissections of female bodies or children (except for grave-robbing)
Why was dissecting humans considered a ‘heroic’ feat?
during those times, they didn’t have adequate treatment for infections and infections were possible when working with sharp tools and human bodies that were not preserved well (no refrigeration)
and smelly
How was Vesalius’ teaching style different from Galen’s?
he was methodical, thorough
displayed a skeleton
had multiple corpses at a time showing different structures
many pupils allowed
large anatomical posters on display
artists doing illustrations
Galen’s versions of dissections had few pupils, with a Galenist guy watching over and instructing a technician to do the dissection
What were the major virtues of Vesalius’ book?
anatomically accurate
high-quality illustrations
printed = widely available
why was Vesalius’ book denounced by Galenists?
because his anatomy contradicted and went beyond Galen’s and Galen was an infallible authority for centuries
Who were the major contributors to understanding blood circulation in the human body? in chrono order
Michael Servetus
Realdo Colombo
Girolamo Fabrici
William Harvey
Who was Servetus? Was he influenced by Galen or Vesalius?
16th century intellectual known as a martyr to freedom of thought and conscience
often fleeing, wandering student, scholar, theologian, physician and anatomist was burned at the stake with his works
influenced by Vesalius and did dissections for a Galenist
What was Servetus’ book that got him persecuted?
in Restoration of Christianity - to understand the human spirit, we must first understand the human body
also contained an argument for pulmonary circulation (no pores)
What were Servetus’ arguments for pulmonary circulation?
no pores separating right and left ventricles like Vesalius thought
pulmonary artery is huge and the lungs could not possibly consume all that blood through the tissues like Galen thought
blood in pulmonary artery was dark red, blood in pulmonary vein was bright red
proposed unidirectional and not tidal like Galen and Vesalius thought
Who was Colombo?
16th century anatomist, succeeded Vesalius at Padua
posthumous publication of book had a clear argument for pulmonary circulation
Who was Fabrici?
wrote a book “On the Valves in the Veins” with an argument for unidirectional blood flow - veins flow away from heart so one side must have valves to prevent back flow
Who was William Harvey? why was his work so influential?
a student of Fabrici’s, a royal physician, a lecturer
INFLUENTIAL: ‘On the Movement of the Heart and Blood”
concluded that blood circulates in 2 circuits (pulmonary and systemic) in a unidirectional motion
used simple, clean experiments to show and support ideas
used quantitative methods
What aspects of Galenic anatomy did Harvey disagree with?
if venous and arterial blood have different functions, as Galen thought, why did they only differ in colour shade?
if blood flow was tidal, like Galen thought, why do only veins have valves and not arteries?
why do the lung tissues need so much nourishment?
quantitative questions about blood - how much blood pumped per heartbeat? No one had asked this before
How did Harvey’s observations contradict Galen’s ideas?
valves in veins allowed for one way flow of blood - easily demonstrated on a live person without dissection
heart pumps 2 oz blood/heartbeat = 600 lbs of blood per hour = there is no way the lung or body tissues are consuming this much blood so the flow MUST be circulatory
the first powerful, quantitative argument for double circulation
What questions did Harvey leave unanswered?
if the liver doesn’t make blood, what does it do? needed to know the liver’s biochemical functions which no one did at the time
if tissues don’t consume blood, what do they do? needed to know the molecular make up of food and nutritional extraction
what is the function of respiration? what is in air that needs to be circulated through the body?
what IS the difference between venous and arterial blood in systemic circuit?
where are the connections between arteries and veins? he could have answered this but didn’t
What were Harvey’s biggest contributions?
double-circuit blood circulation in humans and mammals established
model of experimental and quantitative biology
showed some mechanical aspects of organismal function
suggested possibility of blood transfusion
first time people understood anything about HOW organisms work except for external functions
Explain mechanicism vs. vitalism and the change in perspective during scientific revolution
mechanicism: fundamental laws of physics, mechanics and chemistry allow living processes to exist
vitalism: living processes are a result of a vital force which cannot be explained by physical, mechanical or chemical terms
with Harvey’s work, the mechanical argument became more and more appealing and the vitalism argument died out
Which 2 guys were involved in establishing mechanicism after Harvey?
Rene Descartes
Giovanni Borelli
Who was Rene Descartes?
influential mechanist who developed a model for living things as mechanisms
used physics and engineering (no chemistry) and was inspired by Harvey’s work
What did Descartes believe about humans and animal mechanisms vs. vitalism?
thought humans and animals were mechanisms, but only humans had souls to direct actions, animals did not have. souls
Who was Giovanni Borrelli?
he described the digestive system as mechanical by demonstrating the pulverization of food in a turkey gut
