Transcript The Scientific Revolution - Bergen County Technical Schools

The Scientific Revolution
c.1550
What is the Scientific Revolution?
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In European history the term 'Scientific Revolution' refers to the period between
Copernicus(1473-1543), and Newton (1642-1727)
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The scientific revolution - a series of changes in the structure of European thought itself:
systematic doubt, empirical and sensory verification, the abstraction of human knowledge into
separate sciences, and the view that the world functions like a machine.
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A revolution in the way the individual perceives the world.
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An intellectual revolution -- a revolution in human knowledge.
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The scientific revolutionaries attempted to understand and explain man and the natural world.
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The Scientific Revolution challenged the authority of the classical world (Ptolemy, Aristotle) and
of the Middle Ages – The Church.
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Pre-scientific revolution influences on Europe also included Arabic science, math and
astronomy (Nasir al-Din Tusi, Mu’ayyad al-Din al-‘Urdi and ibn al-Shatir) from the 12th century.
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Science is faith – a belief that science can improve our situation here on earth.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
The True “Renaissance Man”
• Dissected bodies to learn
human anatomy
• First to explain the
circulation of blood
• Believed that the earth
revolved around the sun.
• Drew designs for
submarines & airplanes.
• Leonardo NEVER
published his scientific
ideas.
• One of the western world’s
greatest artist (Mona Lisa)
Beginning of the Scientific
Revolution in Europe
• Began in Europe when Polish scholar Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
challenged the Ptolemaic concept of an earth-centered universe
(geocentric).
• Copernicus demonstrated mathematically that it was the sun that was at
the center of the universe (heliocentric).
- His theory was rejected by most experts.
- Dutch astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
provided evidence through an astronomical
observatory that supported Copernicus’ theory.
- Brahe’s German assistant Johannes Kepler used
Brahe’s data to confirm Copernicus’s theory of a
heliocentric universe.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Kopernik
• Known as the “Father
of Astronomy”
• Born in Poland, studied
at the University of
Krakow (Poland) and
University of Bologna
(Italy).
• Most famous work: On
the Revolutions of the
Heavenly Spheres
(1543)
The Scientific Method of Francis
Bacon (1561-1626)
and Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)
The Scientific Method of Francis Bacon
(1561-1626)
and Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)
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Both rejected Aristotle’s scientific assumptions.
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Challenged scholarly traditions of the medieval universities that sought to
make the physical world fit in with Church teachings.
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Truth is found not at the beginning of research but at the end.
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Bacon wanted science to lead to practical technologies that would benefit
the lives of people.
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Descartes emphasized the use of reason as the best way to understand
science. Bacon emphasized experimentation and observation.
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Descartes moved to the Dutch Republic when his books were banned in
France.
Scientific Method
Step 1:
State
The
Problem
Step 2:
Gather
Information
On the
Problem
Step 3:
Form a Hypothesis –
An educated guess
Step 7:
Communicate, share
Data, answer questions
Step 4:
Experiment to
Test the
hypothesis
Step 6:
Draw
Conclusions
Step 5: Collect,
Record, and
Analyze data
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
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Born in Pisa, Italy. Lived in Florence.
Studied at the University of Pisa.
First scientist to publish his studies in
vernacular (Italian) rather than in Latin.
Achievements include:
- Studied the movement of a
pendulum that led to development
of a pendulum clock
- improvement of the telescope
- Astronomy: observed
the earth’s moon, four
moons of Jupiter &
the phases of Venus.
- Earth was one of many
planets revolving around the sun
– part of a larger Solar System.
- Strong supporter of Copernican
theory.
Trial of Galileo
Trial of Galileo
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1616 – The Catholic Church forbade Galileo to teach that the earth moves. 1633 – forced to
appear before the Inquisition for failing to obey the Church order.
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At the Inquisition, he agreed to recant his assertions about the earth’s movement to save himself
from torture and possible execution.
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Lived the rest of his life under house arrest. Could only publish his work in the Dutch Republic.
Catholic Church banned his work.
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After his trial, the Protestant areas in Europe dominated scientific discovery.
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September,1822: publishing books supporting the heliocentric model of the universe permitted
by Pope Pius VII.
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1835: Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is taken off the Vatican's list
of banned books.
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1992: Catholic Church formally admits that Galileo's views on the solar system are correct.
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Modern History Sourcebook: The Crime of Galileo: Indictment and Abjuration of 1633
Modern History Sourcebook: Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Galileo Quotes
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All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover
them.
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Where the senses fail us, reason must step in.
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I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.
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In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble
reasoning of a single individual.
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Doubt is the father of invention.
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I think that in the discussion of natural problems we ought to begin not with the
Scriptures, but with experiments, and demonstrations.
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"My dear Kepler, what would you say of the learned here, who have steadfastly
refused to cast a glance through the telescope? What shall we make of this? Shall
we laugh, or shall we cry?"
Breakthroughs in Medicine and
Chemistry
1. Andreas Vesalius – (1514-1564, Belgian)
On the Structure of the
Human Body (1543)
- Continued and refined da Vinci’s
work on the human anatomy.
2. Ambroise Pare – (1517 - 1590)
- Introduced the use of artificial
limbs in the 1540’s.
3. William Harvey – (1578-1657, English)
- Published work explaining the circulation
of blood.
4. Anton Leeuwenhoek – (1632-1723)
- Perfected the microscope and was the first human to
see cells and microorganisms.
Dimitri Ivanovich Mendeleev
(1834-1907)
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Born in Russia.
Studied at the University of St.
Petersburg.
Developed the Periodic Table of
Elements in the 1860’s.
- By arranging all of the 63
elements then known by their
atomic weights, he managed to
organize them into groups
possessing similar properties.
- Where a gap existed in
the table, he predicted a
new element would one
day be found and deduced
its properties.
Periodic Table of Elements
Science Humor
Newton’s Theories and
Achievements
• Synthesized astronomy and physics with his
law of gravitation.
• Discovered the law of gravity.
• Deeply religious, he tried to reconcile faith
and science.
• Experimented with light and helped establish
the science of optics.
• Newton’s contributions to physics became
the foundations for modern science.
Impact of the Scientific
Revolution
1. One of the supreme achievements of the human
mind.
2. Science affects practical affairs:
- changed the size of populations
- changed the use of raw materials
- changed methods of production, transport,
business, war.
3. Science has changed the ideas of religion, God
and man.