INTRODUCTION:During the Middle Ages “natural

philosophers” as medieval scientists were known, did not make observations of the natural world. They relied on a few ancient authorities – especially Aristotle – for their scientific knowledge. A number of changes in the 15th and 16th centuries caused them to abandon their old views and develop new ones.

THE BIG QUESTION:How did the Scientific Revolution change people’s view of the natural world?

NEW DEVELOPMENTSNewly discovered Greek works by Ptolemy,

Archimedes, and PlatoThe printing press helped spread new ideasThe invention of the telescope, microscope,

and other measuring instrumentsNew developments in mathematic

Two Types of Scientific ThinkingInductive reasoning:Proceeding from the particular to the generalEx. Every time I eat

oranges I get sick, therefore I get sick because I eat oranges.

Deductive reasoning:Working from the general toward the specificEx. All oranges are

fruits fruit grows on trees, therefore all oranges grow on trees

A New Scientific PhilosophyRationalism:

The belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge

ROOTS OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONcan be found in the Renaissance with the works of Copernicus, Galileo and other scientists

Rejected traditional authority and church teachings in favor or direct observation of nature

Scientific method – people observed nature, made hypotheses about relationships, and then tested through experiments.

OPPOSING THEORIES

This system places the Earth at the center of the universe. The Earth is fixed at the center of concentric spheres, one inside the other, in which the heavenly bodies rotate around the earth.

GEOCENTRIC THEORY (Ptolemaic)

HELIOCENTRIC THEORY (COPERNICAN) –• This theory places the

sun (not the earth) at the center of the universe, with planets revolving around the sun. The moon, however, revolves around the earth, and the earth rotates on its axis.

Galileo GalileiItalian astronomerWidely used telescopes and

conducted tests on the motion of objects to find general principles of physics

His idea was that the planets were composed of material substance

Wrote “The Starry Messenger”

Nicholas CopernicusPolish astronomerIdea was that the sun was the center of the universe, and the moon revolved around earth

Wrote “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres”

Johannes KeplerGerman astronomer, scientist, and mathematician

Idea was that the orbits of planets were not circular, but elliptical

Was able to prove this mathematically

Sir Isaac NewtonEnglish scientist and mathematician, and

the most influential thinker of the Scientific Revolutionlaws of gravity and motionWrote “Principia Mathematica” (connected the speed of falling objects on Earth to the movement of planets.Led to hope that the universe acted

according to certain fixed and fundamental laws

William HarveyScientist and physicianHe wrote a book called “On

the motion of the Heart and Blood” published in 1628.

He showed that the heart was the beginning point in the circulatory system, not the liver. He discovered that the same blood flows in both veins and arteries, and most important, that blood makes a complete circuit as it passes through the body.

Robert Boyle (1627-1691)Irish Chemist (sometimes knows

as the “Father of Chemistry)Conducted controlled experiments

on gases at different temperatures and pressures.

Pioneered work on the properties of gasses, which led to Boyle’s law.

The law states that the volume of a gas varies with the pressure exerted on it.

Distinguished mixtures from compounds

Francis BaconEnglish philosopherInvented the scientific method

He wanted science to benefit industry, agriculture, and trade.

He was more concerned with practical matters than pure science.