The+Scientific+Revolution-3

The Scientific Revolution

Page Created By: Jenna Joseph and Ariel VanErp __Old ideas-__ In the Middle Ages it was thought that the earth was an immovable object in the center of the universe. Scholars believed that the moon, sun, and planets travelled in perfectly circular paths around the earth. It was called the geocentric theory and had been from the Greek philosopher Aristotle. In Christianity it was believed that god had intentionally made earth as the center of the universe because it was the place chosen for life to exist.
 * Universal Structure: **

__New ideas-__ An astronomer named Nicolaus Copernicus studied planetary movements for over 25 years and found proof that supported an old Greek idea which stated that the sun was the center of the universe and that the stars, earth, and other planets revolved around the sun. The theory was called Copernicus’s heliocentric (sun centered) theory, but he did not introduce it until 1543 when he published his book “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies”.

After Copernicus’s death a Danish astronomer named Tycho Brahe studied and recorded the movements of planets for several years producing a large amount of accurate data. After his death Johannes Kepler, his assistant, continued his work. Kepler found that planetary motion is controlled by mathematical laws which showed that planets move in elliptical orbits, rather than circles, around the sun. His laws proved Copernicus’s theory true.

Shortly after that, Galileo Galilei, an Italian scientist, created a telescope based on an instrument that a Dutch lens maker had made to enlarge far-off objects. He used it to study astronomy and published a book called “Starry Messenger”. His book proclaimed that Jupiter had four moons, there were dark spots on the sun, and the moon was rough and uneven. He also created laws of motion which helped to support the theories of Copernicus. Later he wrote another book called “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” containing the ideas of both Ptolemy, a Greek Philosopher who had supported the geocentric theory, and Copernicus.

__Church’s response-__ Catholics and Protestants were both alarmed by these ideas because they were completely against their religious teachings. After Galileo’s second book the pope became very angry and Galileo had to stand trial before the Inquisition in Rome. He reluctantly admitted that Copernicus had been false and lived the rest of his life on house arrest.

** Scientific Method: ** The procedure which was developed as a way of testing theories or ideas and collecting information about those ideas is called the scientific method. The first step is to establish the problem or question. Next a hypothesis is formed. Once the hypothesis is created it has to be tested by means of an experiment or some other way of gathering data. After that the observer needs to go through the information and decipher it in order to reach their conclusion which determines the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of their hypothesis.

The scientific method was developed by Francis Bacon and René Descartes during the 1600s. Bacon was very interested in science because he believed that if people could understand the world and how things work then it would improve prove people’s lives with knowledge. He disapproved of medieval scholars because they relied on philosopher’s conclusions instead of using experiments to gather information. Descartes had been interested in science as well. He developed analytical geometry, which was a combination of algebra and geometry, as a way of collecting data in scientific research. He relied on mathematics and logic and believed that everything should be doubted until it was proven.

** Newton and Gravity: ** Isaac Newton had studied mathematics and physics and came to believe that all physical objects were affected equally by the same forces. He had found that the same force controlled the motion of the planets and all matter. He proved this using the law of universal gravitation which stated that every object in the universe attracts every other object and that the degree of attraction depends on the mass of the objects and the distance between them. Newton published a book called “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” explaining his ideas of the universe which he related to a giant clock in how all the parts worked together which could be explained mathematically. ** Chemistry: ** Doctors in the middle ages had assumed the writings of the Greek physician Galen had been true, but he had never dissected a human body because he believed that the anatomy was the same as animals. Andreas Vesalius proved him wrong when he dissected human corpses himself. He published a book called “On the Structure of the Human Body” containing his observations and drawings or organs, bones, and muscle.

A British physician named Edward Jenner created a vaccine for smallpox in the late 1700s. He used the germs from cows which had cowpox because using the smallpox germs was very dangerous to humans and cowpox was much less dangerous. Using the scientific method in chemistry Robert Boyle found that matter was made up of smaller particles that joined together rather than just earth, air, fire, and water. It was called Boyle’s law and it showed how volume, pressure of gas, and temperature affect each other.

** Effects today: ** The effects of today are now we have medicine and health care equipment for human bodies. We also have the technology of seeing the stars closer with a telescope. We also discovered that you can find bacteria by using a microscope.

** Biography Page ** __Johannes Kepler:__ He was an assistant for Tycho Brahe. After Tycho died, Kepler continued his work. Johannes was a brilliant mathematician.

__Nicolaus Copernicus:__ He was a polish cleric and astronomer who became interested in old Greek ideas. One idea that he liked was that the sun stood at the center of the universe. The theory he made based on it was Copernicus’s heliocentric theory. He wrote a book called “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies”.

__Galileo Galilei:__ He was an Italian scientist, who built the new theories about astronomy. He built his own telescope and used it to study the heavens. He also published two books called “Starry Night” and “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems”.