The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific RevolutionRevolutions in Thought & Faith

Describe the Painting Shown Above

What? When?The Scientific Revolution took place from the mid sixteenth century (1543) to the early eighteenth century

It was a time of revolution in science that challenged how Europeans viewed the universe

During the seventeenth century, the divide between science and religion widened.

This time period saw the development of a new theory of cosmology – a theory of the order of the universe – and a new epistemology – a theory of knowledge

Nicolas Copernicus

Nicolas CopernicusFirst person to substantively challenge the cosmology of the medieval period

In On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies (1543) he hypothesized on the heliocentric (sun-centered) cosmos

His work was controversial

READ about Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) on page 72 of the Haberman textbook

Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei1564-1642

Galileo built a telescope in 1609

His discoveries helped develop the modern understanding of movement of bodies

Galileo said in an essay: “I discovered in the heavens many things that had not been seen before our own age”

Galileo was tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition in 1633 for his theories of heliocentrism

Galileo GalileiGalileo defended himself by claiming that the Bible itself was open to interpretation. He also proclaimed the soundness of his scientific methods, famously saying: “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended to forgo their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by them”

Galileo was forced to recant his findings

Legend has it that, as Galileo was leaving the courtroom, he was heard to say: “And yet it moves”

He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later commuted to house arrest

NoteIn October 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed the regret of the Catholic Church for the handling of the Galileo controversy 359 years earlier

At that time, John Paul II officially changed the Church’s position, conceding that the Earth does revolve around the sun

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

READ “Newton and a Unified System” on page 73 of the Haberman textbook

William HarveyHarvey was born on April 1st, 1578 and died on June 3rd, 1657

He was a physician

Harvey was the first to correctly describe human blood circulation

This idea challenged the once accepted belief that the heart worked by divine intervention