Transcript Slide 1

THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
NAISBITT/FREILER
REMBRANDT’S LESSONS
• By the early 17th century,
interest in scientific
investigation had spread
from narrow circles of
specialists to embrace
educated men and women
• One of the factors in the
spread was the knowledge
derived from public
dissection
• Interest in the workings
of the human body
became a mark of the
educated
Rembrandt Van Rijn, The Anatomy
Lesson of Dr. Nicholaes Tulp, 1632
THE NEW SCIENCE
While the era was not a
complete rejection of the
ancient philosophers, it was
a far more critical look at
their published work
• The scientific revolution
was the opening of a new
era in European history
• The discoveries of the
stargazers, like those of the
sea explorers, challenged
people’s assumptions and
beliefs
• After two centuries of
classical revival, thinkers
had finally come to the
limits of ancient knowledge
• One by one the certainties
of the past were being
called into question
MATERIALISM AND
MATHEMATICS
• The two essential
characteristics of the new
science were materialism
and mathematics
• First, the realization that
the universe was contained
of matter in motion (the
same matter found on earth
and subject to the same
rules as earth)
• Secondly, the realization
that specific calculation
had to replace “common
sense” as the basis of
understanding the universe
REPEATABLE PHENOMENA
• One of the keys in
developing concrete
concepts was the
necessity of repeatable
phenomena
• For example, Galileo did
his accelerating ball
measurement 100 times
before he was satisfied
• Scientific
experimentation
demanded recordable,
predictable, and
repeated results in their
search for truth
EUROPE-WIDE
MOVEMENT
• The scientific revolution was a Europewide
movement
• The spirit of inquiry flourished
everywhere
• This was not an academic
movement per se, but rather
a public movement aided by
the printing press
• Many discoveries came
about as practical solutions to ordinary problems
• The new science gave 17th century Europeans the
belief that they might finally master the forces of
nature
OLD SCHOOL: ARISTOTLE ON
THE UNIVERSE
• Aristotle’s harmonious view of the cosmos was attractive for its
marriage of the physical world with a view of the moral and
spiritual realms
• The heavens were unchanging -- the sun, moon, and planets were
all faultless spheres with perfectly circular rotations
• The earth was the center of the universe due to its importance
• Above earth was the underworld of spirits and above earth was the
upper world of gods and heaven
CHURCH AND ARISTOTLE
• The Christian Church
embraced the
Aristotelian world view
because it was easily
incorporated into
Christianity
• Aristotle’s model had a
place for God and
angels to reside
outside the crystal
rings that held the sun,
moon, and planets in
their orbits
ARISTOTLE/PTOLEMY
MODEL HAD PROBLEMS
•
•
•
•
•
Their were issues with Aristotle’s model as preserved by Ptolemy, the greatest Greek
astronomer
1) If the sun revolves around the earth in a perfect circle, why weren’t the seasons
equal?
2) If the planets revolve around earth in a circles, then why do they sometimes look
nearer or farther away?
Hypotheses were advanced to try to support the old model
Epicycles could explain the problems, but they required 55 different adjustments
NEW IDEAS:
COPERNICUS
• In the late 15th century, a
Polish astronomer began an
extensive study of the solar
system
• He was fascinated by
planetary motion and believed
the elaborate epicycle
explanation was too
complicated
• His ground-breaking essay, On
the Revolutions of the
Heavenly Spheres, theorized
that “at rest, in the middle of
everything is the sun”
COPERNICUS AND HIS
HELIOCENTRIC IDEAS
Notice that Copernicus had the moon revolving
around the earth
• Copernicus argued
that the universe
consisted of eight
spheres with the sun
motionless at the
center and the sphere
of fixed stars at rest in
the eighth sphere
• Copernicus’s suncentered universe was
attacked by
Protestants (Luther
called him a “fool”)
• The Catholic Church
chose to remain silent
. . . for now
LIMITS OF COPERNICUS
Copernicus was basically
conservative. He waited until his
death to publish his work.
• Copernicus accepted
the traditional ideas
of planets moving in
perfect circles, thus
his scheme was only
slightly better at
predicting the
position of planets
• Copernicus’s work
did succeed at
stimulating other
astronomers to make
new calculations
BRAHE BUILDS AN OBSERVATORY
• Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe
was granted possession of an
island near Copenhagen by King
Frederick II
• On it, Brahe built the elaborate
Uraniborg castle, which he
outfitted with a library and a large
observatory
• For 20 years Brahe patiently and
precisely complied a detailed
record of his observations
• While he rejected the AristotelainPtolemaic model, he was unable
to accept Copernicus’s
suggestion that the earth moved
Uraniborg
TYCHO BRAHE COLLECTS DATA
• Brahe noticed a couple of
irregularities that served
to destroy the notion of
an unchanging universe
composed of crystal
spheres
• First, Brahe discovered a
nova, a brightly burning
star that was previously
unknown
• Second, in 1577, the
appearance of a comet
cutting through the
supposedly impenetrable
rings punched another
hole into the old
cosmology
KEPLER MAKES A NAME FOR
HIMSELF
• Next, Brahe’s assistant,
Johannes Kepler
formulated laws of
planetary motion
• One of the preeminent
mathematicians of his era,
Kepler discovered that
planets orbited the sun in
elliptical rather than
circular movement
• He also calculated that the
speed of the planet varied
according to its distance
from the sun
Kepler developed 3 laws of
planetary motion
KEPLER’S FIRST LAW
• Kepler's first law
of undisturbed
planetary motion:
The orbit of each
planet is an
ellipse and the
Sun is at one
focus
KEPLER’S SECOND LAW
• As the planet moves
in its orbit, a line from
the sun to the planet
sweeps out equal
areas in equal times
• This means that the
planet moves faster
when it is near the
sun, slower when it is
far away
KEPLER’S THIRD LAW
•
where T is the orbital period in years and
a is the semimajor axis in AU. Kepler's law is also known
as the harmonic law, and can also be written in the form
where n is the mean motion of an orbiting body, a its
semimajor axis , G the gravitational constant, and M the
mass
• If a is measured is astronomical units, T is measured in
years, and the central mass is the Sun (so that , i.e.,
the solar mass ), then Kepler's law takes the extremely
simple form
Any
questions?
KEPLER’S
IMPACT
• Kepler’s findings were
consistent with the idea
that precise
mathematical
relationships governed
astronomy
• His work supported the
view that the galaxy
was heliocentric and
that the heavens, like
the earth, were made of
matter that was subject
to physical laws
GALILEO
• Galileo Galilei was able to
confirm Kepler’s findings by
observing the heavens
through his newly created
telescope
• In 1610, he discovered four
moons of Jupiter – proving
conclusively that all
heavenly bodies did not
revolve around the earth
• Additionally, he observed
the landscape of the earth’s
moon and described it as
full of mountains, valleys,
and rivers
Galileo’s
Telescope
Galileo
dispelled
the belief
that the
moon was
smooth
and
perfect like
a marble
GALILEO AND MOTION
• Galileo’s most important
findings involved motion
and inertia
• His experiments with
falling objects created
the formula for the speed
of falling motion still
used today -32 ((feet per second) per
second) = 9.7536 m / s2
GALILEO
BECOMES
FAMOUS, IS
CHARGED
• As news of his experiments and discovered spread,
Galileo became famous throughout the Continent
• In 1616, the Roman Catholic Church cautioned him
about promoting his views
• Finally, in 1633, a year after publishing his A Dialogue
Between the Two Great Systems of the World, Galileo
was tried by the Inquisition and forced to recant his
views that the earth moves
GALILEO UNDER HOUSE ARREST
• Galileo spent the rest
of his life under house
arrest
• He insisted that there
was nothing antiChristian in the new
science
• He said the Bible was
the source of spiritual
authority, but should
not be used as a book
of science
OR
NEW SCIENCE EMBRACES
NATURE
During the Scientific Revolution,
scientists focused on the natural world
and the laws which governed it
• What was new about
the new science was
the determination to
develop systems of
thought that could help
humans understand
their environment
• Aiding in that
development was that
scientists increasingly
worked in a spirit of
greater openness and
cooperation between
themselves
NEOPLATONISM
• During the Renaissance
the writings of Plato
attracted many Italian
humanists including
Marsilio Ficino and Pico
della Mirandola
• These Neoplatonic
humanists taught Plato’s
theory that the world was
composed of ideas and
forms that were hidden by
the physical properties of
objects
Neoplatonists believed the perfect
disciplines were music and math
NEOPLATONISM IMPACTS
OTHER FIELDS
• Neoplatonism created
an impetus for the
mathematically based
studies of the new
scientists
• Astronomers used
both calculation and
geometry in exploring
the heavens
• Other fields such as
alchemy, astrology,
numerology and
Hermeticism were
bolstered by
Neoplatonic ideas
HERMETICISM
• The most influential of the
mystical traditions was that
associated with Hermes
Trismegistus, an Egyptian
from the 2nd century
• The core of Hermetic thinking
was a belief in a universal
spirit that was present in all
objects
• Kepler was influenced by
Hermetic thought as he
sought a “unifying universal
force” throughout his career
Hermeticism still exists
today in various forms
PARACELSUS
• Swiss alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541)
combined an interest in Neoplatonism and
Hermeticism as he emerged in the 16th
century as a leading proponent of new
medical ides and techniques
A MATTER OF MATTER
• Paracelsus replaced
the traditional belief
that all matter
contained earth,
water, fire, and air
with the notion that
instead it was the
combination of salt,
sulfur, and mercury
• He called this
concept “the three
principles”
PARACELSUS: HAD NO SENSE
OF HUMOR
• Paracelsus challenged
Galen’s age old belief that
disease was caused by an
imbalance of bodily
humors which could only
be treated by bloodletting
• He believed that each
disease had its own
unique cause and needed
prescribed chemicals
Today chemicals are a multibillion dollar business
BOYLE AND
CHEMISTRY
• While not embraced by all
physicians, Paracelsian cures
and methods had a profound
effect on the studies of
Englishman Robert Boyle
• Boyle devoted his energy to
raising chemistry above the
study of merely providing
recipes for the cure of disease
• Boyle’s work would
established modern Chemistry
BOYLE, BOYLE TOIL AND
TROUBLE
Boyle’s Air Pump
• Boyle’s first important
work, The Sceptical
Chymist (1661), rejected both the
four humors and the three
principles as the basis for matter
• Instead, Boyle found an atomic
explanation in which matter
“consisted of little particles”
• Boyle’s most important
experiments were with gases –
he formulated the relationship
between the volume and the
pressure of a gas (Boyle’s law)
and he also invented the air
pump
Boyle’s
Law
MEDICAL
SCIENCE
• The new spirit of
scientific inquiry also
affected medical studies
• Galen’s assumptions
were largely rejected by
the new study of anatomy
• Belgian doctor Andreas
Vesalius used dissection
to produce a set of
accurate anatomical
drawings in 1543
• At age 25, Vesalius launched
a full assault on Galen
• Vesalius worked with the
finest block cutters of Venice
and draftsmen to produce his
book, De humani corporis
fabrica libri septem, or “The
Seven Books on the Structure
of the Human Body”—
commonly known as the
Fabrica
• In this 1543 masterwork, men
and women now stood stripped
of skin while skeletons leaned
lazily against columns in the
rolling Italian countryside
CHALLENGING
GALENISM
WILLIAM HARVEY AND
BLOOD
1578-1657
• While dissection did help
explain much about the
human body, one mystery
that lingered was the
method by which blood
moved through the body
• It was generally accepted
that blood traveled form the
liver to the heart
• English Doctor William
Harvey provided a
alternative explanation
HARVEY: HEART AS PUMP
• William Harvey
examined hearts in
more than 40 species
before determining
that the heart acted
like a pump and
circulated blood
throughout the body
• {Harvey served as
personal physician to
both James I and
Charles I of England}
LEEUWENHOEK ADVANCES
MICROSCOPE
• Anthony Leeuwenhoek improved
the primitive microscope by
grinding lenses and developed a
small single lens microscope
• He saw bacteria, yeast, blood
cells and many tiny animals
swimming about in a drop of
water
• From his great contributions,
many discoveries and research
papers, Anthony Leeuwenhoek
(1632-1723) has since been
called the "Father of
Microscopy"
MICROSCOPE HELPS MALPIGHI
Malpighi
• Marcello Malpighi
studied the lungs of
frogs using a
microscope
• He discovered that a
network of tiny
blood vessels, the
capillaries, helped
move blood from
arteries to veins
SIR ISAAC NEWTON
• The greatest of them all
was the English scientist
Sir Isaac Newton
• A mathematician and
physicist, Newton brought
together the various
strands of the new
science
• He merged the ideas of
Hermeticists, astronomers
and astrologists, the
chemists and the
alchemists
Newton 1642-1727
NEWTON SEES THE LIGHT
• Newton was the first to understand the composition
of light, the first to develop a calculus, and the first
to build a reflecting telescope
• He studied Hermetic writings and from them revived
the mystical notions of attraction and repulsion
NEWTON SYNTHESIZES NEW
SCIENCE
• Newton’s influential
work, Mathematical
Principles of Natural
Philosophy, is one of
the most important
scientific works ever
composed
• He solved the
perplexing question: If
the world is composed
of matter in motion,
what is motion?
NEWTON AND MOTION
• Most scientists believed that motion was inherent in
objects
• In contrast, Newton believed that motion was a result of
interaction between objects and that it could be
calculated mathematically
• He formulated the concept of force and 3 laws of motion
NEWTON AND THE
UNIVERSE
• Newton theorized that if
all earthly motion was
subject to laws than the
movement of planets
could be explained in the
same way
• According to Newton,
there was a mathematical
relationship between
attraction and repulsion –
a universal gravitation –
that governed the
movement of all objects
Newton’s theory of
gravity joined together
Kepler’s astronomy and
Galileo’s physics
WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR
NEW SCIENCE
• By 1650 the New
Science was firmly
established throughout
Europe
• Support came from
royal and noble patrons
who provided
equipment, labs, and
observatories
• Royal societies were
established and
scientists met
frequently to discuss
their findings
SOCIETIES FOUNDED
• The French Academie des
Science (1666) was
composed of 20 salaried
scientists and an equal
number of students
• The English Royal Society
(1662) boasted some of the
greatest minds of the age,
including Newton
• Gresham College taught
navigation, mathematics
and physics and formed a
close relationship with the
Royal Navy of England
BACON AND THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
Bacon 1561-1626
• One of the leading
supporters of
scientific research in
England was Sir
Francis Bacon
• In his influential work,
The Advancement of
Learning, Bacon
proposed a scientific
method through
inductive empirical
experimentation
BACON: OPEN AND
HONEST
• Bacon believed
experiments should be
carefully recorded so
that results were both
reliable and repeatable
• He further advocated
the open world of
science vs. the closed
secret world of the
magician
MODERN
VERSION
OF
BACON’S
METHOD
RENE DESCARTES
• Trained in a Jesuit
school, Descartes got
a law degree in 1616
• He served in the 30
Years’ War for the
Dutch
• He studied math
intensely and in 1637
published his
extraordinary book,
Discourse on Method
Descrates (1596-1650) emphasized the
role of doubt in inquiry
DISCOURSE ON METHOD
• Descartes began his
“discourse” by
rejecting everything
that could not be
clearly proven
• The only thing that
he could be certain
about was that he
had a mind
• Thus his famous
formulation: “Cogito
ergo sum” (I think
therefore I am)
DESCARTES AND GOD
• From this first
certainty came
another: the
knowledge of
perfectibility
• He knew he was
imperfect and that a
perfect being had to
have placed that
knowledge within him
– thus God existed
CARTESIAN DUALISM
• Descartes philosophy,
known as Cartesian
Dualism, rested on the
dual existence of matter
and mind
• Matter was the material
world subject to laws of
nature
• Mind was the spirit of the
creator
• He believed that all
objects operated
according to natural laws
DESCRATES INVENTS HIGH
SCHOOL MATH
Analytic geometry, also called coordinate
geometry, is the study of geometry using
the principles of algebra. Some consider
the introduction of analytic geometry as
the beginning of modern mathematics.
• Descartes went on to
invent analytic
geometry and made
important contributions
to the science of optics
and physics
• Yet it was his proof that
the new science could
be harmonized with the
old religion that many
call his greatest
contribution to the New
Science
A HUMOROUS INTERLUDE: A
SCIENTIST JOKE
WOMEN AND SCIENCE
• In the late 14th and early 15th
centuries, new opportunities
for elite women emerged as
humanism encouraged
Europe’s privileged classes
to promote women’s study of
the classic texts
• Women were attracted to the
study of science although
institutions of higher learning
were not ready for them
• Women largely studied
informally with their fathers
or brothers
Academies, societies and
colleges were not ready
for women during the
Scientific Revolution
MARGARET CAVENDISH
• One of the most
prominent female
scientists of the 17th
century was Margaret
Cavendish (1623-1673)
• Cavendish was an active
participant in scientific
debates of the era
• However she was
excluded from
membership in the Royal
Society
CAVENDISH SPEAKS HER MIND
• Cavendish defended her
beliefs in her impressive
book, Observations upon
Experimental Philosophy
and Grounds of Natural
Philosophy
• She attacked the growing
belief that through science,
humans would be masters of
nature
• She said, “We have no power
at all over natural causes and
effects.”
MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN
• Maria Sibylla Merian (16471717) established herself as a
leading entomologist
• Trained at her father’s
workshop, Merian learned the
art of illustration
• Her major work, The
Metamorphosis of the Insects
of Surinam, included 60
illustrations of the
reproductive and development
cycles of insects of Surinam
(Dutch colony just north of
Brazil)
Maria Sibylla
Merian was
obviously an
artist as well
as a scientist
MARIA WINKLEMANN
• Another pioneer female scientist was Maria Winkelmann
• Educated by her father and uncle, Winkelmann married
leading German astronomer Gottfried Kirch and became
his assistant
• Maria made important discoveries independent of her
famous husband including finding a previous unknown
comet
THE WOMAN QUESTION:
THE MALE VIEW
• The nature and value of
women had been the
subject of an ongoing,
centuries- long debate
known as the querelles des
femmes
• Male opinions were
generally unfavorable
stereotypes that had
persisted since medieval
time
• Males viewed women as
easily swayed, prone to
vice, and “sexually
insatiable”
THE WOMAN QUESTION:
THE FEMALE VIEW
• Women joined
this debate by
arguing against the
traditional male images of
women
• Women argued that they
had rational minds that
could benefit from
education
• Furthermore, most women
were actually pious and
chaste and therefore did
not need male authority
over them
SCIENCE NO HELP FOR WOMEN
• Overall the Scientific
Revolution reaffirmed
traditional ideas about
women
• Anatomical studies
proclaimed women to
have larger pelvic areas
and smaller skulls
• Furthermore, science
caused traditional
spheres of influence of
women to give way to
men (example: mid-wives
replaced by male doctors)
Science reinforced the view of
women as inferior, subordinate to
men, and suited by nature to nurture
SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE
17TH CENTURY
• The Galileo trial initiated
the beginning of the
conflict between science
and religion that has
marked the history of
modern civilization
• Since the beginning of time
religion has served as the
scientific authority
• New Science began to draw
intellectual barriers
between theology and
scientific truth
THE CHURCH TAKES A STANCE
• The New Science was
contrary to ancient
wisdom and contradicted
Church teachings
• Furthermore, it was a
movement completely
outside the control of
Rome
• The symbol of this
conflict was the trail of
Galileo which starkly
profiled the conflict
between authority and
knowledge
WAS SPLIT NECESSARY?
•
As scientific
beliefs triumphed, it became
inevitable that religious
beliefs would suffer, leading
to a growing secularization
of European intellectual life
• Some 17th century scientists
believed the split was
unnecessary – that one
could combine God,
humans, and a mechanistic
universe
SPINOZA’S VIEW OF UNIVERSE
• Dutchman Benedict de
Spinoza was unwilling
to accept the
implications of
Descartes separation of
mind and matter and the
separation of an infinite
God from the finite
world of matter
• According to Spinoza
God was not simply the
creator of the universe;
he was the universe
SPINOZA’S MONISM
• Spinoza’s idea that
all that is is God,
and nothing could
be apart from God –
known as Monism
(also called
Pantheism) – was
expressed in his
book, Ethics
Demonstrated in the
Geometrical Manner
SPINOZA: MAN AS PART OF
UNIVERSAL LAWS
Spinoza believed humans and nature
were all connected
• According to Spinoza,
man is as part of nature
as planetary motion
• Spinoza: “I shall
consider human actions
and desires in exactly
the same manner as
though I were
concerned with lines,
planes, and solids”
• Everything had a
rational explanation, and
humans were capable of
finding them
BLAISE PASCAL BALANCES
FAITH AND REASON
• Pascal was a French
scientist who sought to
keep science and religion
united
• In his book, Pensees, he
argued that humans were
frail creatures, often
deceived by their senses
and misled by reason
• Pascal: “Man is a reed,
the weakest in nature, but
a thinking reed”
PASCAL AND REASON
• Pascal was determined
to show that
Christianity was not
contrary to reason
• Christianity recognized
that man was both
vulnerable and great
• It is not necessary,
according to Pascal, to
emphasized one at the
expense of the other
Blaise Pascal 1623-1662
PASCAL’S WAGER
• Pascal had an answer
to those skeptical
about God’s existence
• He believed God was
a reasonable bet; it is
worthwhile to assume
that God exists
• If He does, then we
win all; if He does not,
we lose nothing
(Pascal’s Wager)
It can’t hurt!
PASCAL AND FAITH
• In the final analysis,
after providing
reasonable arguments
for Christianity, Pascal
came to rest on faith
• Reason could only take
people so far
• As a Christian, faith
was the final step, “The
heart feels God, not the
reason – this is what
constitutes faith.”
RISE OF SECULAR SOCIETY
• Despite Spinoza and Pascal’s efforts, the gap between
science and traditional religion grew wider as Europe
continued down the path of secularization
• More and more of the intellectual, social, and political
elites began to act on the basis of secular rather than
religious assumptions