The Scientific Revolution

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The Scientific Revolution

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Blinded by Science

• During the Middle Ages the Catholic Church had
  control over the political and social aspects of
  the world
• Few if any were concerned with big picture
  concepts
• The serfs and peasants were worried about just
  surviving
• The nobility was concerned about events in their
  small piece of the world

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Blinded by Science

• What changed that lead people to become involved
  in science
• The Renaissance and later the Protestant
  Reformation sparked interest in questioning the
  world and authority
• The growth of universities and education lead to
  the natural (Socratic) ideal of questioning ideas
• The revival of Greek and Roman writings
  (Aristotle, Galen, Socrates) and the idea of
  humanism lead to the idea of natural laws.

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Blinded by Science

• Copernicus
• Prior to Copernicus it was believed that the
  Earth was the center of the Universe
• In 1543 Copernicus wrote in his book The
  Revolution of Heavenly Bodies that the earth
  rotated around the sun and that the earth was
  actually a sphere and rotated on an axis
• Many scholars had already accepted that the earth
  was a sphere but it was believed that the earth
  was the center of the universe

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Blinded by Science

• Copernicus used math to determine that the
  geocentric theory was wrong
• Even so Copernicus did not wish to publish his
  theory for fear of the Catholic Church

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Blinded by Science

• Galileo
• In 1632 Galileo backed up Copernicus and his
  theories.
• Galileo wrote his works in Italian and with the
  new printing press the information was spread to
  the common man

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Blinded by Science

• Galileo wanted to disprove Ptolemy and his
  geocentric theory
• Galileo showed that the rotation of the earth on
  its axis produced the rotation of the heavens
• Furthermore the changes of the stars and their
  position in the sky coupled with the position of
  the sun proved that the earth rotated around the
  sun

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Blinded by Science

• The Catholic Church was upset with Galileo
  because they used the accepted model of
  geocentric
• Galileo was called to Rome for an Inquisition for
  teaching and writing doctrine contrary to the
  Holy Scripture
• Galileo was forced to recant his work, his book
  was placed on the Forbidden Book Index were it
  remained until 1822 and placed under house arrest
  for the rest of his life

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Blinded by Science

• Reason
• Scholasticism was based on the Aristotelianism
  idea of using logic and reason to determine the
  truth
• However reason was not good enough-Ones ideas
  and thoughts needed to be proved
• Out of this was born the scientific method
• Document, demonstrate, experiment, and prove
  using mathematical precision

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The Sky is Falling

• Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
• Built and observatory and recorded his
  observations
• Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• Developed the law of planetary motion based on
  math and observations

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I smell Bacon

• Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
• Worked on inductive logic
• Believed that scientist should amass data and
  make observations and evaluations through
  experimentation
• Bacon stated that man should study science not
  for the sake of studying science but to improve
  the human condition

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Words of Wisdom from Bacon

• Histories make men wise poets, witty the
  mathematics, subtle natural philosophy, deep
  moral, grave logic and rhetoric, able to
  contend.
• If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers,
  it shows he is a citizen of the world.
• If a man will begin with certainties, he shall
  end in doubts, but if he will content to begin
  with doubts, he shall end in certainties.
• Imagination was given to man to compensate him
  for what he is not a sense of humor to console
  him for what he is.
• In order for the light to shine so brightly, the
  darkness must be present.
• Knowledge is power.

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Apples, get your apples here!

• Isaac Newton
• Newton was the scientist that understood science
  in its totality and was able to take the
  discoveries of the day and tie them together

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Apples, get your apples here!

• Newton would be famous for a number of
  discoveries
• Laws of motion, laws of thermodynamics, the
  concept of gravity, the math of calculus and
  Newtonian physics
• His book Principia (1687) lead to an intellectual
  movement in Europe
• It would be until Einstein and his theory of
  relativity in the 20th century would Newtons
  ideas be challenged or altered.

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Inventions

• Telescope
• Microscope
• Pendulum clock
• Thermometer
• Barometer

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New Discoveries

• States of matter
• Liquid, gas and solid
• Light
• Made of particles or waves
• All living creatures were are made up of cells
• The circulation of blood and the idea of small
  blood vessels known as capillaries that carried
  blood to the cells

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What the Scientific Rev. Meant

• These new ideas would eventually lead to the
  Industrial Revolution
• It caused a division in the world and among
  scientist
• While some scientist tried to maintain their
  religious beliefs while they studied science many
  more began to reject the Christian church
• Some became atheists (Dont believe in God)
• Others became Deists (God existed but played only
  a limited role in the lives of humans)
• The Protestant Reformation challenged the Pope on
  the theological ideas while the Scientific
  Revolution challenged the Pope on his authority
  of science and math. The religious implications
  of the Scientific Rev. where huge.