The Scientific Revolution Flashcards
Medieval Cosmology
Medieval Worldview
Understanding of physical world and natural property
Combination of Christianity, Aristotle, Ptolemy
Aristotle
Dominated the explanation for heavy bodies in the universe
Nature of things to move in certain ways
The earth being the heaviest object, is stationary, center of the universe
Ptolemy
Published “Almagest”
Almagest
Assumption that a motionless earth stood at the center of the universe
By the late middle ages his book became the standard astronomical wisdom
Plato
Greatest achievements = Mathematics and Music
Neo-Platonists
Geo-centric view of the universe
Earth is the center of the universe
Nicolaus Copernicus
Helio-Centric
Mathematical Complexity of the Ptolemaic System troubled him
Published “On The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres”
“On The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres”
Copernicus
Started the Scientific Revolution
Helio-centric view of the universe
Sun is the center of the universe
Tycho Brahe
Built the finest observatory in Europe
Gave to future generations the precise calculations of the movement of the heavenly sphere
Johannes Kepler
Kepler’s Three Basic laws of Planetary Motion
He gave sound mathematical proof
Demonstrated that mathematical relationships can describe the planetary system
Kepler’s Three Basic laws of Planetary Motion
1) The orbits of the planets are elliptical not circular
2) The velocity of a planet doesn’t stay the same
3) You can describe the planet’s movements mathematically
Galileo Galilei
“The Starry Messenger”
All things being equal - bodies of unequal weight will experience un(natural) acceleration
Motion can be treated mathematically
The order and uniformity of nature
“The Starry Messenger”
Galileo
The moon was not smooth, uniform, and precisely spherical
Observed spots on the sun
Galileo’s discoveries
Moons around Jupiter
Catholic Church’s reaction to Galileo
felt threatened by Galileo’s research
Earth is not the center = threat to God
LIGA
Teachings officially condemned by the Church (put on the index of prohibited books)
Placed under house arrest
Isaac Newton
Devoted Christian
formulated the gravitational laws
Determined the nature of light
“Principia Mathematica”
“Opticks”
“Principia Mathematica”
Newton
Established laws of motion and universal gravitation, and layed the groundwork for classical mechanics and modern physics
“Optics”
Newton
Light illuminated from bodies AKA waves
Newton’s 4 Basic Structures of the Universe
1) Matter is always the same
2) It is atomic in structure
3) In its essential nature, it is dead or lifeless
4) It is acted upon by immaterial forces that are placed in the universe by God
Newton’s three laws of motion
1) Inertia - The body remains in a state of rest or continue its motion in a straight line unless it is impaled to change by forces impressed on it
2) Acceleration - The change in the motion of the body is proportional to the force acting on it
3) For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction Applied these laws to both Earth and other planets
Universal Gravitation
Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them
The nature of light
Composed of tiny particles, or “corpuscles,” traveling in straight lines
Newton’s idea of God’s role in the Universe
Believed the universe was a creation of God, a “clockwork” mechanism designed and set in motion by a divine intelligence, not left to run itself, but actively maintained and governed by God.
