Toward a New World View

The Scientific Revolution

 Introduction

 There were profound changes in the

world-view of Europeans in the late 16th
and early 17th centuries.

 The primary cause was the Scientific

Revolution. (1543-present)
Introduction
 The most
profound
change in
human
history?
Introduction
 The new intellectual climate differed
from the medieval world-view:

 Rejection of authority.
 Best knowledge was practical.
 Demystification of the universe.
 Introduction
 Intellectuals in this era differed from their predecessors by
combining mathematics and experiment.
Roots of the Scientific Revolution

 Ancient Egypt
Introduction

 China –
movable
type, paper,
astronomy
 Introduction
 Islamic Empire:
– medicine,
preservation of
Greek texts,
astronomy,
mathematics
Introduction

 Medieval Europe
 Introduction
 The Aristotelian-
Ptolemaic Universe
 Geocentric/Earth

Centered
Introduction
 10 separate,
transparent, crystal
spheres
 First 8 held the moon,
sun, planets, stars.
 2 added during Middle
Ages.
 Heaven lay beyond the
10th sphere.
 Angels kept the spheres
moving.
Introduction
 Sublunar world
 4 Elements:
Earth, water;
fire, air.
 Uniform force
moved objects
until something
stopped it.
 The
Great
Chain
of
Being
Introduction

 The Church
invested
greatly in this
world-view.
 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

 Polish monk.
 Observed patterns
of star and planet
movement.
 On the Revolutions
of Celestial Bodies
(1543)
The Scientific Revolution

 Heliocentrism
 The Scientific Revolution
 Called into question the literal truth of the Scriptures.
 Copernicus waited to publish his findings.
The Heliocentric (Copernican) Universe
The Scientific Revolution

 Niccolo Tartaglia
was the first to apply
mathematics to the
investigation of the
trajectory of
cannonballs.
 His work was later
validated by Galileo's
studies on falling
bodies.
The Scientific Revolution
 Gian Battista Benedetti
proposed a new doctrine of
the speed of bodies in free
fall.

 The speed depends on the

difference between the
specific gravity of the body
and that of the medium it
falls through.
The Scientific Revolution
 Tyco Brahe was a Danish
nobleman who set the stage
for modern astronomy by
building an observatory and
collecting data.

 He was known for his

accurate and
comprehensive
astronomical and planetary
observations.
 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
 Italian
scientist.
 Improved the
telescope.
 Formulated
Laws of
Motion and
Inertia.
 The Scientific Revolution
 Proved the
Copernican view of
the universe.
 Moon

 Planets

 Stars

 Sunspots

 Wrote in the
vernacular.
 Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina
of Tuscany (1615)

 Written to address the

conflict between the Bible
and heliocentric theory.
 Argued that the Bible must
be interpreted in light of
scientific knowledge.
 Argued for a non-literal
interpretation of the Bible.
 Galileo declared the Bible
teaches how to go to
heaven, not how the
heavens go.
 The letter began Galileo’s
troubles with the Church.
 The Scientific Revolution
 1633 – Church arrested Galileo and charged him with heresy.
 He was forced to recant and was placed under house arrest.
 The Scientific Revolution
 Johannes Kepler
formulated three laws
of planetary motion
that proved the
relationship between
the planets in a sun-
centered solar system.
The Scientific Revolution
 René Descartes (1596-1650)
 French
mathematician and
philosopher.
 A transitional
figure between the
medieval past and
modern science.
The Scientific Revolution
 A rationalist.
 Promoter of deductive
reasoning, predicting
particular results from
general principles.
 Discourse on Method (1637)
 Descartes wished to
develop a method that could
be used to yield scientific
truth.

 Argued that abstract

reasoning and math were a
more reliable path to truth;
our senses could deceive us.

 Cogito ergo sum (“I

think, therefore I am”)
The Scientific Revolution
 Isaac Newton
integrated the
astronomy of
Copernicus and
Kepler with the
physics of Galileo.
Prinicipia Mathematica 1687
 Newton formulated a
set of mathematical
laws to explain motion
and mechanics.

 A key feature was the

law of universal
gravitation.
 The Scientific Revolution

 Contributions
made by these
scientists made
the universe
comprehensible
for the first time.
 Scientific Revolution
 The individual became much more important;
collective authority was not the source of
wisdom…individual intellect was.
 The Scientific Revolution
 After the
Revolution, God
was viewed by
many as either a
remote master
mechanic, or his
existence began to
be doubted.
The Scientific Revolution
 Began long
adversarial
relationship
between
science and
religion.
The Scientific Revolution
 The Scientific
Revolution laid the
foundation for the
Enlightenment of
the 18th Century.