The Scientific Revolution

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The Scientific Revolution
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What Was the Scientific Revolution?

• A revolution in human understanding and knowledge
  about the physical universe
• 17th century
• Began with Kepler, Galileo
• Ended with Newton

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Science Before the Scientific Revolution

• Based almost entirely on reasoning
• Experimental method or observation wasnt used at
  all
• Science in medieval times
• Alchemy
• Astrology

A medieval alchemist
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Francis Bacon andthe Scientific Method

• 15611626
• English philosopher and empiricist
• Inductive reasoning
• Argued for experimental methodology

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The Scientific Method

• Science as a multiple-step process

3. Test the theory with experiments
2. Develop a theory that explains the object or
phenomenon
1. Observe an object or phenomenon
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Models of the Universe Geocentric vs.
Heliocentric

• Geocentric the Earth is at the center of the
  universe all heavenly bodies move around the
  Earth

Heliocentric the Sun is at the center of the
universe all heavenly bodies move around the
Sunincluding the Earth
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Nicholas Copernicus (14731543)

• Polish astronomer and mathematician
• Commentariolus (1514)
• Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial
  Spheres (1543)

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Galileo Galilei (15641642)

• Italian mathematician, astronomer
• Father of Science
• Telescopes and astronomical discoveries
• Theory of falling objects disproved Aristotle

Galileos telescopic drawing of the moon
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Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World

• Galileos major work
• Written in 1632
• Argued in favor of the heliocentric model of the
  universe

Frontspiece from the Dialogue from left to
right, the figures shown are Aristotle, Ptolemy,
and Copernicus
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Galileo vs. the Catholic Church

• The church condemned heliocentric conceptions of
  the universe
• The Roman Inquisition
• Galileos trial
• Galileo recants, put under house arrest

19th-century depiction of Galileo before the
Inquisition tribunal
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Sir Isaac Newton (16421727)

• English astronomer, physicist, and mathematician
• Synthesized the works of Copernicus, Kepler and
  Galileo
• The Principia

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Newtons Laws of Motion

• First Law Law of Inertia
• Second Law Fundamental Law of Dynamics
• Third Law Law of Reciprocal Actions

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Medicine Before the Scientific Revolution

• Based on tradition
• The Church

Illustration depicting a bloodletting, an
accepted medical procedure before the Scientific
Revolution
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William Harvey (15781657)

• English physician
• On the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals
• Described the functioning of the heart and
  circulatory system
• Disproved Galens theories

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New Invention The Telescope

• Invented in the Netherlands
• Galileo
• Newton

Illustration of Galileo at his telescope
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New Invention The Microscope

• Hans Janssen
• Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
• Robert Hooke

Hookes drawing of a flea (from Micrographia)
A Janssen microscope, c.1600
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New Invention The Pendulum Clock

• Invented by Christiaan Huygens, a 17th-century
  Dutch scientist
• Allowed scientists to more accurately measure time

Huygenss design for a pendulum clock
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New Invention Barometer

• Invented by 17th-century Italian physicist
  Evangelista Torricelli
• The barometer measures air pressure

Torricellis barometer experiment
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New Invention Thermometer

• Invented in the 17th century by Santorio
  Santorio, an Italian scientist
• Ferdinand II
• Gabriel Fahrenheit
• Anders Celsius

Santorio Santorio
Illustration depicting Santorios thermometer
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New Invention Mechanical Calculator

• Invented by Wilhelm Schickard, a 17th-century
  German inventor
• Gottfried von Leibnizs Step Reckoner

Wilhelm Schickard
A 1624 sketch Schickard made of his calculator
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The Significance of the Scientific Revolution

• Abandonment of ancient and medieval systems
• Development of the scientific method
• The Enlightenment