The Scientific Revolution 1543 1687 The Smart

The Scientific Revolution (1543 – 1687) The Smart Guys

What Was It & Who did it affect? O A time when breakthrough discoveries were made in science and philosophy and Europeans’ perception of the universe and their role in it was changed forever. O Began by only affecting the scientific and intellectual elite (5 % of the population or so) but the Concepts eventually spread to all of the population.

Where did Scientific Ideas Come From Before the Scientific Revolution?

Ancient Science O Greek & Roman Science: O Medieval European Science: O The Bible was the authority

Aristotle • The greatest ancient philosopher. • Viewed as the absolute authority on physics – belief that there was no movement without a mover – He explained motion by the fact that each of the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) wished to return to its natural place.

Ptolemy O A great astronomer from ancient times O Geocentric Universe O Stated that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun and all the planets moved around in crystalline spheres.

The Bible O Naturally, the main source of information, in all respects, its teachings were taken literally. O Supported Ptolemy/geocentric theory O Since God made the earth, He would have put it in the center of the universe.

Causes of the Scientific Revolution O Scientists were beginning to take note of the inconsistencies of the standard theories, and, were beginning to question the old authorities. O Influence of the other “new” ancient scientists, especially Archimedes, that disagreed with the old theories. O The interest in what is now regarded as magic, but was then seen as serious science. (alchemy and astrology) O Interest in technology both stimulated and made possible the SR. (printing press, telescope, vacuum pump, thermometer, barometer and microscope), often made for other purposes (war)

The Effects of the Scientific Revolution O People felt that understanding of the universe could be reduced to mathematical laws. O The universe no longer appeared to be a mystery. O Now it was orderly, rational, and, most importantly, could be understood by humans. O People felt that humans were able to control their own destiny. O The concept of natural laws developed. O Science gained wider appeal and unprecedented popularity.

Scientific Societies O Science was institutionalized, and scientific societies sprung up throughout Europe O Greatly helped the rate of progress by sharing findings and methods. O Royal Society of London created in 1662 by Charles II O French Royal Academy of Science in 1666 by Colbert for Louis XIV

The Effects of the Scientific Revolution O Positive gain of knowledge, greater toleration (both religious and scientific), less superstition and more scientific answers, and freedom to deviate from established theories, which opened the door for new and further developments. O Negative loss of innocence, loss of traditional faith, loss of faith in heaven, earth is no longer regarded as the center (God’s pet project), skepticism, loss of idea of a personal/caring God.

Overall View O The Scientific Revolution was an era of optimism that gave way to an Age of Reason in the 18 th century. O People living during the Scientific Revolution felt that they had surpassed even the ancients and were at the peak of human knowledge, and ideas of progress dominated intellectual discussions.

Nicholas Copernicus (1473 – 1543) O He developed a new, heliocentric system that placed earth as the third planet rotating around the sun. O Kept the crystalline spheres. O Did not account for the stars. O His major work was The Revolution of Heavenly Bodies (1543 – start of scientific revolution): O Did not publish until his deathbed. O The book sparked a major controversy It was dangerous to express Copernican views openly.

Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601) • Stargazer who meticulously recorded star data for years. • Catalogued over 1000 stars. • Observation of comets proved the universe changed. • Used instruments with open sights (compass and sextant), no telescopes.

Observation of Cassiopeia

Tycho Brahe Weird Facts O Had a fake nose from a duel O Got lots of $$ from King of Denmark & Norway to stay in country O Used $$ to buy island (Hven) where he set up his home and observatory O Kept a pet ELK O Died after falling down stairs drunk O WEIRD death O Thought he died because he refused to urinate at a party – in fact recent research shows mercury poisoning, likely self induced as a medicine.

Johann Kepler (1571 – 1630) O Developed the first theories of motion with the aid of Brahe’s star data. O Developed 3 “laws” of Motion to explain planetary movement. O Planets moved in ellipses. O Planets did not move at a steady rate.

I. The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. Kepler’s Law st 1 The Sun is not at the center of the ellipse, but is instead at one focus (generally there is nothing at the other focus of the ellipse). The planet then follows the ellipse in its orbit, which means that the Earth-Sun distance is constantly changing as the planet goes around its orbit.

Kepler’s 2 nd Law The line joining the Sun and planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times, so the planet moves faster when it is nearer the Sun. Thus, a planet executes elliptical motion with constantly changing angular speed as it moves about its orbit II. The line joining the planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal times as the planet travels around the ellipse.

Kepler’s rd 3 III. The ratio of the squares of the revolutionary periods for two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their semimajor axes: Law Kepler's Third Law implies that the period for a planet to orbit the Sun increases rapidly with the radius of its orbit. Thus, we find that Mercury, the innermost planet, takes only 88 days to orbit the Sun but the outermost planet (Pluto) requires 248 years to do the same.

Motion of Planets Saturn Jupiter Mars Earth Venus Mercury

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) O The first scientist to use the telescope. O he saw Jupiter’s moons and the craters on the moon. O In 1610, he wrote the Starry Messenger and subsequently got in trouble with the Inquisition O 1632, he wrote the Dialogue on the Two Great World Systems O The church forced him to recant in 1633 and made him spend the last years of his life under house arrest. O Developed his Theory of Inertia - things in motion remain in motion unless acted upon by another force published in The Two New Sciences in 1638. O Considered to be the first modern scientist, for he developed the scientific method of experimentation.

Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) Light entering the far end (1) passed through a convex lens (2), which bent the light rays until they came into focus at the focal point (f). The eyepiece (3) then spread out (magnified) the light so that it covered a large portion the viewer's retina and thus made the image appear larger.

Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) O Wrote, The Principia, which described three laws of motion O In the absence of force, motion continues in a straight line O The rate of change of the motion is determined by the forces acting on it O Action and reaction between two bodies are equal and opposite O law of universal gravitation O Newton also supported observation and experimentation, and helped further develop the scientific method. O Developed Calculus “If I have seen further [than others] it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. ”

Timeline of Scientists

Epistemologies (theories of knowledge) Teleology- everything is made for a purpose (Aristotle) O Mechanism - scientists should question O how (not why) things worked (Galileo and Newton)

The Scientific Method The steps in the experimental scientific method as usually presented are: • Observation (Identify the problem) • Hypothesis • Controlled Experimentation or collection of data • Conclusion (Analyze and interpret data) –theory on how to obtain and verify knowledge –stressed experience, reason, and doubt and rejected all unsubstantiated authority. –Revolutionized science, and made measurement of data, and mathematics, essential parts of science. –Science based on pure fact – the acquisition of data and the testing of theories. – a combination of two theories of knowledge:

Inductive Reasoning O Francis Bacon (who wrote New Atlantis a description of an ideal society based on science) O Supported going from particular knowledge (observation) to general knowledge.

Deductive Reasoning O Rene Descartes (who wrote the Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences). O Stated that senses can lie and that the only way to find truth was to start from one fact, which was “I am doubting” and proceed to deduce all other statements – “I think, therefore I am. ” "cogito ergo sum“ O Reduced all matter to spiritual and physical -Cartesian Dualism O Works from a General knowledge to the more specific.