The Scientific Revolution
also known as the “Age of
Reason.”
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As the printing press increased the
accessibility of books in Europe, the
literacy rate increased and people
began to question the status quo.
People began to wonder…what
should I believe?
Should I believe what my experience
shows me? Or what authorities, including
the church and the bible, have told me to
believe.
The following scientists questioned
common beliefs in the 16th
century. For this reason they
were seen as risk-takers because
of their threat to authority. These
men and their new ideas became
part of what is known as the
“Scientific Revolution.”
What were the consequences of
their risk-taking?
Nicolaus Copernicus
“Finally we shall
place the Sun
himself at the
center of the
Universe”
•A Polish mathematician and astronomer who
through the scientific method, observed and
then proposed that the sun was stationary in the
center of the universe and the earth revolved
around it. A sun-centered universe is known as
heliocentric.
•The heliocentric view was very
controversial, because it disputed what had
been taught for centuries… that the Earth (and
the Catholic Church) was the center of the
universe. A earth –centered universe
(geocentric view) had been proposed by Greek
astronomer, Ptolemy, centuries before and had
been the standard view up until this time.
•Wrote De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
(On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres),
but delayed publication, fearful of the Catholic
Church’s response to it.
It was not just the Catholic Church that
disapproved of Copernicus’ heliocentric
view. This is what Martin Luther had
to say about Copernicus’ findings…
"There is talk of a new astrologer who wants to prove that the
earth moves and goes around instead of the sky, the sun, the
moon, just as if somebody were moving in a carriage or ship
might hold that he was sitting still and at rest while the earth
and the trees walked and moved. But that is how things are
nowadays: when a man wishes to be clever he must . . . invent
something special, and the way he does it must needs be the
best! The fool wants to turn the whole art of astronomy
upside-down. However, as Holy Scripture tells us, so did
Joshua bid the sun to stand still and not the earth."
http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe/videos/beyond-the-big-banggalileo-galilei#beyond-the-big-bang-copernicus
List 3 Facts about Nicolas Copernicus:
1.
2.
3.
How was he a risk-taker?
Galileo Galilei
•An Italian scientist, Galileo used the scientific method and a superior
model of the telescope to make important astronomical discoveries.
•Some of Galileo’s astronomical discoveries included the moons of
the planet Jupiter, the phases of the planet Venus (similar to
•those of Earth's moon), and sunspots on the moon.
•As a professor of astronomy at University of Pisa, Galileo was
required to teach the geocentric view of the universe. Later, Galileo
was exposed to the Copernicus’ heliocentric view and with
observations made with his newly improved telescope, he became
convinced that the heliocentric view was the most accurate view
of the universe.
“I do not feel obliged
to believe that the
same god who has
endowed us with
sense, reason and
intellect has
intended us to forgo
their use.”
•In 1633 the Inquisition convicted him of heresy and forced him to
recant (publicly withdraw) his support of Copernicus. They sentenced
him to life imprisonment, but because of his advanced age allowed
him serve his term under house arrest at his house outside of
Florence.
•http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe/videos/beyond-the-big-bang-galileo-galilei#beyond-the-bigbang-galileo-galilei
List 3 Facts about Galileo:
1.
2.
3.
How was he a risk-taker?
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer.
He agreed with Copernicus’ heliocentric view of the universe, but through
mathematical calculations, Kepler discovered that the orbits of the planets were
ellipses, not circles.
“I much prefer the
sharpest criticism of a
single intelligent man to
the thoughtless approval
of the masses.”
With this information, he formulated his Three Laws of Planetary Motion.
Kepler’s First Law:
The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
List 3 Facts about Kepler:
1.
2.
3.
How was he a risk-taker?
Isaac Newton
“If I have been able
to see further, it was
only because I stood
on the shoulders of
giants.”
English physicist and mathematician
• Helped define the laws of gravity and planetary
motion, co-founded the field of calculus, and explained
laws of light and color, among many other discoveries.
•A famous story says that Newton uncovered the laws of
gravity after being hit on the head by a falling apple.
There is no proof that this story is true. However, his
assistant John Conduitt later wrote that Newton had said
he was inspired to think about gravity after seeing an
apple fall in his garden around 1666.
•Newton was knighted in 1705 and upon his death in
1727 was the first scientist given the honor of burial in
Westminster Abbey.
http://www.history.com/videos/isaac-newton-and-a-scientific-revolution#isaac-newtonand-a-scientific-revolution
http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe/videos/beyond-the-big-bang-galileogalilei#beyond-the-big-bang-sir-isaac-newtons-law-of-gravity
Isaac Newton’s calculations changed the way
people understood the universe. No one had been
able to explain why the planets stayed in their
orbits. What held them up? Less than 50 years
before Isaac Newton was born it was thought that
the planets were held in place by an invisible
shield.
List 3 Facts about Newton:
1.
2.
3.
How was he a risk-taker?
William Harvey
• English physician
• Harvey was fascinated by the way blood
flowed through the human body. Most
people of the day believed that food was
converted into blood by the liver, then was
consumed as fuel by the body. Harvey
knew this was untrue through his firsthand
observations of human and animal
dissections.
• By observing the action of the heart in
small animals and fishes, he proved that
the heart receives and expels blood
during each cycle.
• His views were very controversial and lost
Harvey many patients, but it became the
basis for all modern research on the heart
and blood vessels.
http://science.discovery.com/videos/100-greatest-discoveries-shortswilliam-harvey-blood.html
“All we know is
still infinitely
less than all
that remains
unknown.”
List 3 Facts about Harvey:
1.
2.
3.
How was he a risk-taker?