Unit 13: Scientific Revolution

1609 Galileo observes heavens through telescope.

1687 Newton publishes law of gravity.

1690 John Locke defines natural rights.

Enlightenment and Revolution, 1550–178922

CHAPTER

Time Line

1550 1789

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1543

Copernicus publishes heliocentric theory.

1628

William Harvey describes heart function.

1748

Montesquieu describes separation of powers.

1762

Catherine the Great rules Russia.

The Roots of Modern Science

The Medieval View Most knowledge in

the Middle Ages came from the Bible and Greek/Roman sources.

Supports geocentric theory—moon, sun, planets revolve around Earth

Why didn’t anyone challenge Aristotle, Ptolemy, & the Church?

During Dark Ages in Europe life was very, very tough (little food, little protection, a lot of disease)

No books to learn from…only the Bible.

Kings didn’t allow for public education…NO KNOWLEDGE.

The Roots of Modern Science

A New Way of Thinking Renaissance prompts new ways of thinking (1300-

1600) Scientific Revolution—new way of viewing the natural

world—based on observation and inquiry New discoveries, overseas exploration open up

thinking Scholars make new developments in astronomy and

mathematics.Questioned Greco-Roman ideasQuestioned Church teachings Use of scientific method and human intellect.

A Revolutionary Model of the Universe

The Heliocentric Theory Widely accepted geocentric

theory challenged as inaccurate

Copernicus develops the heliocentric theory—planets revolve around the sun

Later scientists mathematically prove Copernicus to be correctNicolaus

Copernicus

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Believed in Copernicus’s idea, but he also believed that the planets move in ellipses, or oval paths.

A Revolutionary Model of the Universe

Galileo’s Discoveries Italian scientist Galileo

Galilei makes key advances in astronomy.

He makes discovery about planet surfaces using telescope

Supports heliocentric theory 4 moons of Jupiter (Jupiter

has 8 moons) Sun spots Catholic clergy members forced

him to recant his findings under threat of excommunication and torture

Church officials placed Galileo under house arrest for the rest of his life in an attempt to silence him

Galileo Galilei

Isaac Newton

Used math to prove the ideas of Copernicus and Galileo

Called the force gravity, or that all objects fall towards Earth

Said all of nature follows laws.

Motion in space and earth linked by the law of universal gravitation—holds that every object is universe attracts every other object

Newton views the universe as a vast, perfect mechanical clock.

The Scientific Method

A Logical Approach Revolution in thinking leads to development of

scientific method—a series of steps for forming and testing scientific theories

Bacon and Descartes Thinkers Bacon and Descartes help to create

scientific method Bacon urges scientists to experiment before

drawing conclusions Descartes advocates using logic and math to

reason out basic truths

The Scientific Method

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) René Descartes (1595-1650)

The Triumph of Reason

Rene Descartes is the founder of modern rationalism. This is the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge.

To Descartes, one fact seemed to be beyond doubt—his own existence.

Descartes clarified this idea by the phrase, “I think, therefore I am” or “Cogito ergo sum.”

Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method

Sir Francis Bacon

What Does it all Mean?

A. Like the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution saw the proposal of many new ideas and techniques that challenged traditional thinking

B. This set the stage for the Enlightenment, a political movement of the 1600s and 1700s which involved political theorists questioning

traditional beliefs about government