Chapter 18 Part 1

Chapter 18Part 1

The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment

The Medieval View of the World

Mainly religious and theological Political theory was based on “Divine

Right of Kings” Society governed by Church views,

traditions, practices Superstition played a major role in

life

Scientific thought in the early 16th century

Still based on medieval ideas Aristotle’s ideas gave us our views

about the universe (seemed to conform with Church views)

The Geocentric view: the earth was the center of a static, motionless universe

Science was a branch of theology

Causes of the Scientific Revolution

Impact of Medieval Universities:

By 1300 philosophy had become an accepted discipline (as well as law, medicine and theology)

Medieval philosophers had developed a degree of independence from theologians AND a sense of free-inquiry

Medieval Universities(causes)

Leading universities established new professorships of mathematics, astronomy, and physics (natural philosophy) within their departments of philosophy

Major scientific figures either studied or taught at universities

The Renaissance(causes)

Stimulated science by rediscovering ancient mathematics

Renaissance patronage was often scientific as well as artistic and humanistic

Navigational Problems(causes)

Problems on sea voyages during the Age of Discovery created a need for scientific advances

New instruments: telescope, barometer, thermometer, pendulum clock, microscope, air pump

Gresham College in England

(causes)

Scientists worked closely with top officials in the Royal Navy and leading merchants and shipbuilders

Became the main center of scientific activity during the first ½ of the 17th Century

The New World View Essay

Discuss how the New World View, which was developed during the Scientific Revolution of the late 16th and early 17th centuries was applied to society during the Enlightenment of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Be certain to address the areas of religious philosophy, economics, science and medicine, government and justice, and beliefs about the nature of man and progress.

In the 16th Century Copernicus (1473-1543) wrote: On the

Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres

Feared a backlash by the scientific community and by the Church

So he postponed publication of his book AND dedicated the book to Pope Paul III (Reform Pope)

Copernicus Did NOT intend his theories to

challenge Church Doctrine

Copernicus gave us a New World View

The Heliocentric View Argued that the earth revolved around

the sun and that the sun was the center of the universe

Stated that the stars did not move although they appeared to due to the result of the earth’s rotation

Problem: retrograde motion of planets relative to the earth was explained (falsely) by the premise of epicycles

Copernican Theory Challenged Ptolemy’s (2nd century

A.D.) view of the universe

And seemed to challenge the Bible’s Book of Genesis (also a geocentric view)

Religious Reaction Martin Luther and John Calvin:

condemned Copernicus’ Theory: cited Biblical passages that supported the Medieval point of view

Initial Catholic Reaction: not so emphatic: the Catholic Church did not always interpret the Bible as literally as the Protestants did

BUT by 1616: the Catholic Church proclaimed the Copernican theory as false and persecuted those holding Copernican views (like Galileo)

Tycho Brahe ( 1546-1601)

Europe’s leading astronomer in the 16th Century

Built the best observatory in Europe (Denmark) and collected massive data on his observations of the universe

Data will be used for centuries

LATER Brahe’s data will be used to support Copernican theory…but Brahe, himself, did not

Tycho Brahe Unlike Copernicus, Brahe believed

that while the planets all revolved around the sun, the sun revolved around the earth

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Assistant to Brahe First great Protestant scientist Mathematically proved Copernican

theory Developed the three laws of

planetary motion

Kepler’s 3 Laws of Planetary Motion

Orbits of Planets are elliptical

Planets do not move at uniform speed while in their orbits

The time it takes for a planet to orbit the sun is directly based on its distance from the sun (the closer a planet is to the sun…the faster its orbit)

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Developed the 3 Laws of Motion using the experimental method (with controlled experiments)

Acceleration experiment: 1. Gravity is a universal force that

produced uniform acceleration

2. All falling objects descend with equal velocity regardless of their weight

Galileo’s Laws of Motion3. Law of Inertia: an object that is in

motion remains in motion until it is stopped by some external force

Galileo Validated Copernicus’ heliocentric

view with the aid of a telescope

Galileo was the first to use the telescope as a scientific instrument

He built his own

Galileo Demonstrated that the moon and

other planets were not perfectly round like a crystal sphere (the Medieval view)

Discovered the four moons of Jupiter which refuted the medieval (Aristotle’s) belief that Jupiter was embedded in an impenetrable crystal sphere

Changing Religious Views

Galileo’s findings became more controversial in Catholic Countries

At the same time, Protestants countries in Northern Europe became more accepting of Galileo’s challenges to Medieval views Maybe because they had already made

inroads into challenging long-accepted beliefs and practices

The Church v Galileo 1616 The Catholic Church declared

Copernican theory to be heretical

1632 Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems in which he wrote about Copernican theory in mathematical terms

The Inquisition! In 1633 the Inquisition of Pope

Urban VII forced Galileo to retract his support of the Copernican theory

Galileo remained under house arrest for the rest of his life

Francis Bacon (1561-1625) Formalized the empirical method

(that had already been used by Brahe and Galileo)

The Inductive Method (empirical) for scientific experimentation: Begin with an observation Form a hypothesis Conduct an experiment Organize data

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Wrote Discourse on Method Advocated the use of deductive

reasoning (logic)

This, combined with Bacon’s Inductive Method (empirical method) became the Scientific Method used today

Rene Descartes Used deductive reasoning to prove

his existence “cognito ergo sum” means “I think;

therefore, I am.”

His proof depended on logic alone

Deductive Reasoning Begin with clear and

incontrovertible facts Subdivide each problem into as

many parts as necessary, using a step-by-step logical sequence

Descartes Developed analytical geometry Demonstrated the relationship

between algebra and geometry

Descartes’ Cartesian Dualism

Divided all existence into the spiritual and the material

The Spiritual can only be examined by deductive reasoning (logic)

The material can be examined by the experimental (inductive) method

The Modern Scientific Method

Bacon’s Inductive Methodand

Descartes’ Deductive Method

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Used the astronomy of Copernicus and Kepler with the physics of Galileo to create a theory explaining the order and design of the universe

Newton’s Principles of Universal Gravitation

Were detailed in his 1687 book: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Popularly known as Principia

Perhaps the greatest book on science ever written

Principle of Universal Gravitation

Natural laws of motion (gravitation) are evident in the movement of heavenly bodies and earthly objects

Newton developed a set of mathematical principles to explain motion

Principle of Universal Gravitation

Every body in the universe attracts every other body in the universe in a precise mathematical relationship

Since these natural laws are unchangeable and predictable, God’s active participation is not needed to explain the forces of nature

Above view is the foundation for Deism (rational religion)

Newton Also invented Calculus

Although Leibniz also made the claim

Anatomy and Physiology Scientists began to challenge Greco-

Roman medical views (especially those of Galen 2nd Century A.D)

Vesalius The Structure of the Human Body (1543) renewed and modernized the study of anatomy

Harvey On the Movement of the Heart and Blood (1628) explained how blood was pumped by the heart and circulated throughout the body

Anatomy and Physiology Van Leeuwenhoek: Father of

Microscopy Developed powerful microscopes

Was the first to see and write about bacteria, yeast, other living organisms in a drop of water and the circulation of blood corpuscles in capillaries

Royal Scientific Societies Governments and Monarchs

encouraged scientific inquiry as a means to further the prestige of the state and remain at the cutting edge of technology

Scientific Societies gave scientists opportunities to communicate with each other internationally, helping to forge an international scientific community

The Royal Society (England)

The most successful and prestigious Founded 1660

Other Royal Societies created in : Naples, France, Prussia, Russia

Impact of the Scientific Revolution

Led to the Enlightenment of the 18th Century

Improvements in exploration (chronometer gave mariners the ability to determine Longitude)

Helped to lead to the Agricultural Revolution of the 18th Century

Impact of the Scientific Revolution

Improvement of medical knowledge helped to improve the quality of life (later in the 19th and 20th centuries)

Science and religion will not be in acute conflict until 19th and 20th Centuries

No conflict betweenScience and Religion

(yet) There was no attempt in the 17th and

18th centuries to secularize science

Most scientists believed that they were studying and analyzing God’s creation

Universal agreement among scientists that the origin of the universe WAS supernatural

The DebateRegarding Religion:

To what extent did God continue to be involved in his creation?

After the Catholic Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church became more hostile to science and science declined in Italy…but NOT in France

Protestant countries became the leaders of the scientific revolution…especially England