The Scientific Revolution16th-17th Century

Scientific Developments

Medieval view of the world

• Primarily religious• Political theory based on divine right

of kings• Society governed by Church views,

traditions, & practices• Superstition played a major role in

people’s lives• Scientific thought in early 16th

century was still based on Medieval ideas– Views of universe influenced by

Aristotle– Geocentric view that earth was the

center of a static, motionless universe– Science was essentially a branch of

theology

Causes of the Scientific Revolution

• Medieval universities provided the framework– Leading universities

established new professorships of mathematics, astronomy, & physics (natural philosophy)

• Renaissance stimulated science by rediscovering ancient mathematics

• Navigational problems (age of exploration) created a need for scientific advances

• Scientific methodology– Bacon formalized

experimental research– Descartes emphasized

deductive reasoning• The Sci. Rev. became the

major cause of the new world view of the 17th & 18th centuries– Secularism– Learning became a

foundation of society

More about the origins of the Scientific Revolution

16th century Science

• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)– On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

(1543): postponed publication, dedicated to the Pope

– Heliocentric view: earth revolved around the Sun was the center of the universe.

– seemed to challenge the Bible’s Book of Genesis

– Condemned by Luther & Calvin– By 1616, Catholic Church proclaimed the

theory false & persecuted those who advanced it (e.g. Galileo)

• Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)– Europe’s leading astronomer– Built the best observatory in Europe & used it

to collect massive amounts of data– His data later proved Copernicus’ theory

• Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)– Developed 3 laws of planetary motion

17th Century Science

• Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)– Developed the laws of motion– Validated Copernicus’ heliocentric theory

with the aid of a telescope– His findings became controversial in

Catholic countries– Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World

Systems (1632)– 1633, Pope Urban VII forced Galileo to

retract his support of the Copernican theory & placed him under house arrest

• Francis Bacon– Formalized the empirical method– Inductive method for scientific

experimentation (this combined with Descartes’ deductive reasoning formed the backbone of the scientific method)

More 17th Century Science

• Rene Descartes (1596-1650)– Discourse on Method: advocated the use of

deductive reasoning– “Cogito ergo sum” (“I think; therefore I am”)– Logic alone for proof– Cartesian Dualism:

• divided all existence into the spiritual & material• Spiritual can only be examined with logic

(deductive reasoning )• Material is subject to experiment

• Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)– Principal of universal gravitation:

• Detailed in Principia (perhaps greatest book on science ever written)

• Every body in the universe attracts every other body in the universe

• Since these laws are unchangeable & predictable, God’s active participation in the natural world is not needed to explain nature (foundation of Deism)

Anatomy & Physiology

• Medieval view = Galen (2nd cent.)• Vesalius: The Structure of the

Human Body (1543) – study of anatomy

• William Harvey: On the Movement of the Heart and Blood (1628) – explained how blood was pumped by the heart & circulated

• Anton van Leeuwenhoek: “Father of microscopy” – first to see & write about bacteria, yeast plants, living organisms in a drop of water & circulation of blood in capillaries

Royal Scientific Societies

• Governments/monarchs encouraged scientific inquiry – a means to further the prestige of

the state– Remain on the cutting edge of

technology• Scientific societies created a

means by which scientists could communicate internationally

• The Royal Society in England (founded 1660) was perhaps the most successful & prestigious

• Other Royal societies created in Naples, France, Prussia (Frederick I), & Russia (Peter the Great)

Women in Science

• Noble women had access to learning• Margaret Cavendish

– Participated in scientific debates– Excluded from memberships to Scientific

Societies• Maria Winklemen

– Assistant to her husband at the Berlin Academy of Science astronomical observatory

– Denied a position there after his death • Debates on the nature of Women

– “querreles des femmes”– Science was used to find new support for the

old, stereotypical views about a woman’s place• Women’s pelvic area was bigger = meant to be

child-bearers• Smaller skull = inferiority of the female mind

– Midwives were increasingly replaced by men

An educated woman is a thing…

“which one shows to the curious, but which has no

use at all.”

Science and Religion

• “Natural philosophers” tried to draw lines between the knowledge of religion and the knowledge of the natural world (science)

• Others like Spinoza & Pascal tried to tie them together

• Benedict de Spinoza– Pantheism– viewed God and Nature as two names for

the same reality• Blaise Pascal

– attempted to keep science & religion united

– Pensees: Tried to convert rationalists to Christianity

– Determined to show that religion was not contrary to reason

Impact of the Sci. Rev. on Society

• Led directly to the Enlightenment of the 18th century (next chapter)

• Improvements in exploration• Spirit of experimentation helped

accelerate the Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century

• Improved medical knowledge (quality of life)

• Science & religion were not in conflict until the 19th & 20th centuries– No attempt in 17th & 18th centuries to

secularize science– Scientists believed they were studying &

analyzing God’s creation– Universal agreement among scientists of

supernatural origin of the universe– Debate centered on the extent to which

God continued to be involved in his creation