The Scientific Revolution

I can identify key scientists of the

Scientific Revolution.

Why a “Revolution”

• In with the New

• Early Modern

– Observation leads to

hypothesis

– Reason

– Asking why and

questioning your

surroundings

• Out w/the Old

• Medieval

– Magic

– Mysticism

– Ancient writings

Bad Science

• Bad Science

• Ptolemy's Structure:

• Planets are fixed in

space

• WE FOUND GOD…

at the edge of the

universe

Nicolaus Copernicus

• Heliocentric: sun is at the center of the universe.

• Earth’s Axis

– Rotation & Revolution

• Friends publish studies just before he dies

Copernicus’ Universe

Johannes Kepler

(Protestant)

• German astronomer

and mathematician

• Proved (w/math)

1. Earth does revolve

around the Sun

2. Orbit is an ellipse

3. Planets move faster

approaching sun…

4. Planets are not orbs of

light

Galileo Galilei

(Catholic)Italian mathematician

• Observations of moons of Jupiter support Kepler’sviews

• Universal law of physics: inertia

Galileo’s Trial

• The Catholic

Church couldn’t

have someone

question their

knowledge/power

• Galileo’s theories

were dangerous

Sir Isaac Newton

• Devised the law of

gravity & Newton’s

Laws of Motion

• Gravity

– Why we don’t fly off the

earth

– Why planets move

• Calculus

Sir Francis Bacon

• English Philosopher

• Ideas based on

tradition or unproven

facts should be

discarded

• Helps develop the

Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

• Watch, Guess, Test,

Repeat

• Same answer ALL of

the time = LAW

• TRUTH is deduced

through reason and

experimentation

Maria Winkelmann

• Trained as an

astronomer by her

father.

• When her husband

dies, she tries to

find work on her

own.

• Denied because she

was a woman

Rene Descartes

• Truth MUST come

from Reason

• Doubts everything

• (illusions)

• “I think, therefore I

am”

Count the Black Dots

Are the lines crooked or straight?

How many legs does the elephant

have?

Read the Sign Aloud

Face or Eskimo?

Musician or Woman’s Face?

How many faces do you see?

Summary

• The Scientific Revolution was a radical

change in Europe. It brought new ideas and

theories and challenged current thought.

The Scientific Revolution has shaped

modern science.