Unit 4: Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment Flashcards
1
Q
geocentric conception
A
-earth-centered; the universe was seen as a series of concentric spheres with a fixed or motionless each at its center (Ptolemy)
2
Q
Nicolaus Copernicus
A
- 1463-1543; studied math and astronomy in native Poland and at Bologna and Padua (Italy)
- On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres= 1500s; published shortly before his death bc he was afraid of the criticism/ridicule
- felt that Ptolemy’s geocentric system was too complicated and didn’t accord with the observations of the planets
- heliocentric conception
- he didn’t reject aristotle’s principles of the existence of planets moving in orbit
- shift from geocentric to heliocentric= raised questions about Aristotle’s astronomy and physics, even though Copernicus still followed Aristotle
3
Q
Tycho Brahe-
A
- 1546-1601; Danish nobleman
- 20 yrs= detailed records of observations of positions and movements of stars and planets; pretty accurate
- rejected the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system; didn’t accept Copernicus’s idea that the earth moved
4
Q
Johannes Kepler
A
- 1571-1630; destined by parents to be Lutheran minister
- confirmed Copernicus’ heliocentric theory while modifying it → but didn’t like Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system
- 3 laws of planetary motion
5
Q
3 laws of planetary motion
A
- rejected Copernicus showing that the orbitals of planets around sun were not circular but elliptical, with sun at one focus of the ellipse rather than at the center
- demonstrated that the speed of a planet is greater when it is closer to the sun and decreases as its distance from the sin increases
- contracted with the fundamental Aristotelian tenet that Copernicus shared, that the motion of all the planets was steady and unchanging.
- 10 yrs later…….square of a planet’s period of revolution is proportional to the cube of its average distance from the sun (planets with larger orbits revolve at a slower average velocity that those with smaller orbits)
6
Q
Galileo Galilei
A
- 1564-1642; Italian scientist; taught math
- first European to make systematic observations of the heavens with telescope→ new age of astronomy
- universe= composed of of material substance similar to that of earth, not ethereal/perfect and unchanging substance (abolished another aspect of traditional views)
- Inquisition
- The Starry Messenger=new picture of the universe, not mathematical theories of Copernicus and Kepler
- principle on inertia= body in motion continues motion forever unless deflected by an external force (state of uniform motion is just as natural as a state of rest)
- if uniform force was applied to the first object, it would move at an accelerated speed rather than a constant speed
7
Q
Isaac Newton
A
- 1642-1727; Englishman; only English scientist to be buried in Westminster Abbey
- calculus
- Principia= spelled out mathematical proofs demonstrating laws of gravitation (combo of theories of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo)
- 3 laws of motion
- law of gravitation= why planets don’t go in a straight line→ elliptical orbits around sun
8
Q
3 laws of motion
A
- every object continues in a state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless deflected by a force
- the rate of change of motion of an object is proportional to the force acting on it
- to every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction
9
Q
Galen
A
- physician, medicine; his influence on medieval medical world was in anatomy, physiology (the functioning of the body), and disease
- relied on animal dissection, not human, to get a picture of human anatomy→ inaccurate bu ppl still relied on it
- physiology
- 4 humors
10
Q
four bodily humors..
A
- Galen
- blood= warm and moist
- yellow bile= warm and dry
- phlegm= cold and moist
- black bile= cold and dry
- disease= 4 humors were out of balance (discoloration/more/less of urine→ examine patient’s urine)
- meds= purging and bleeding; herbal meds
11
Q
Paracelsus
A
- 1493-1541; “greater than Celsus”, Philippus Aureolus von Hohenheim; father of modern medicine
- macrocosm-microcosm analogy
- humans were small replicas (microcosms) of a larger world (macrocosm) → all parts of the universe were represented within each person
- believed that the chemical reactions of the universe as a whole were reproduced in human beings on a smaller scale
- disease was due to chemical imbalances, not imbalance of 4 humors, and could be treated by chemical remedies-
12
Q
new drugs
A
- Paracelsus
- disease would be cured if used in proper form and quantity but he didn’t have much success curing his patients (“homicide physician”)
- disease was due to chemical imbalances, not imbalance of 4 humors, and could be treated by chemical remedies
- “like cures like” (ancient Germanic folk principle); not “contraries cure” (Galen)
13
Q
Andreas Vesalius
A
- 1514-1564; practical research= principal avenue for understanding human anatomy
- professor of surgery
- On the Fabric of the Human body= based on his Paduan lectures; dissected body; illustrations
- caught errors in Galen’s practices
- Galen thought that the great blood vessels came from the liver, when Vesalius states they actually came from the heart
- still believed that there was a ebb and flow of 2 kinds of blood in the veins and arteries
- circulation of blood proved this wrong
14
Q
William Harvey
A
- 1578-1657
- On The Motion of the Heart and Blood= 1628 break in Galen’s ideas; meticulous observations and experiments
- demonstrated that the heart and not the liver was the beginning point of the circulation of blood
- same blood flows in both veins and arteries
- blood makes a complete circuit as it passes through the body
- his idea were not recognized until capillaries were discovered
- his theory of circulation of the blood laid the foundation for modern physiol
15
Q
Margaret Cavendish
A
- aristocratic background
- participated in important scientific debated of her time
- excluded member of the Royal Society
- Observations upon Experimental Philosophy ; Grounds of Natural Philosophy
- defects in rationalist and empiricist approaches to scientific knowledge
- through science, humans would be masters of the universe
- she was a good example of women in France and England who worked in science (
16
Q
Maria Winkelmann
A
-1670-1720; educated by dad
-husband’s assistant
-applied for position as assistant astronomer but bc she was a woman and had no university degree she was denied
science= male reserve; -no matter how good these women were, they were not allowed into the Royal Society and French Academy of Science and were expected to do their domestic duties
17
Q
querelles des femmes
A
- arguments about women; nature and value of women was debated
- women= portrayed as inherently base, prone to wickedness, easily swayed and “sexually insatiable” → men “needed” to control them (what they thought)
- women argued that learned women= viewed having overcome female portrayals to become like men
- women argued that women also had rational minds and could grow from education
- science= used to find new support for the old, stereotypical views about a woman’s place in the scheme of things
- Vesalius= skeletons of men and women were the same
- 18th century= female skeletons→ larger pelvic area and smaller skulls
18
Q
Rene Descartes
A
- 1596-1650
- dreamed the outlines of a new rational-mathematical system→ new commitment to the mind, math, and mechanical universe
- father of modern rationalism
- Discourse on Method= 1637
- “I think therefore I am”
- Cartesian dualism
