Scientific Revolution 5 Questions

Ch 3 Lesson 1: The Scientific Revolution (McGraw Hill p 85-95)

Astronomy, natural laws, medicine, chemistry, philosophy & reason, the Scientific Method

Medieval Assumptions

• The Greek philosopher Aristotle came up with the idea that the earth was the center of the universe.

• Geocentric Theory; Earth is the center of the universe and everything rotates around the Earth.

Medieval Assumptions contin.

• In the 2nd century AD the Greek astronomer Ptolemy expanded on this idea.  Christianity taught that god had placed the Earth at the center of the universe because it was a special place where the great drama of life took place.

• Ptolemy claimed the planets were crystal orbs that rotated around Earth in perfect circles

Multiple Choice

The geocentric theory

• places the Sun as the center of the universe

• places Earth as the center of the Universe

The Scientific Revolution

• By the mid 1500’s, some scholars began to publish works challenging the ideas of the ancient thinkers and the church. 

• As these scholars replaced old assumptions with new theories, they launched a change in European thought known as the Scientific Revolution. This was based on careful observation and willingness to question accepted beliefs.

Copernicus and the Heliocentric Theory

• Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who challenges the geocentric theory. He proposed a theory that said the Earth and everything else revolves around the sun.

• Heliocentric Theory: The Earth revolves around the sun.  

Multiple Choice

Copernicus's heliocentric model

• places the Sun as the center of the universe

• places the Earth as the center of the Universe

• claims Earth is flat

Kepler's First Law

• Johannes Kepler concluded that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion, one of these laws showed that planets move in an elliptical (egg-shaped) pattern around the sun, not a circular pattern.

• This contradicted the traditional assumption of circular orbits

Galileo's Discoveries

• Galileo Galilei discovered that each pendulum swing took the same amount of time, found that falling objects accelerate at the same speed, built his own telescope to study the heavens, discovered the four moons of Jupiter, and Earth's moon has a rough surface.

• 1610 – publishes Starry Messenger, which included these findings plus evidence to support Copernicus’s Heliocentric Theory.

Galileo's Discoveries

• 1616 – Catholic church warns Galileo not to defend Copernicus’s ideas.

• 1632 – Galileo publishes Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. This book showed both Copernicus and Ptolemy’s theories but clearly showed Galileo’s support of Copernicus.

• 1633 – Galileo is summoned by the pope to Rome to stand before court. Under threat of torture he signed confession stating Copernicus’s ideas were false.

Multiple Choice

Galileo's Starry Messenger

• ended all debate on how the universe worked

• earned Galileo a scholarship from the Catholic church and a permanent teaching position

• made Galileo rich from record book sales

• got him in trouble with the Catholic church, which found his discoveries challenging to the Church's beliefs and teachings

Newton's View of the Universe

• Isaac Newton discovers and publishes his universal laws of gravitation in 1687.

• Explains why the planetary bodies continue their elliptical orbits around the sun; in mathematical terms, every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity

• Universe now seen as one huge, regulated, uniform machine that worked according to natural laws.

Breakthroughs in Medicine

• Andreas Vesalius dissects human corpses and publishes his book, On the Fabric of the Human Body in 1543.

• William Harvey publishes On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals in 1628

• Better, scientific understanding of how the body -- and life -- actually functions.

Multiple Choice

Discoveries about science and medicine

• proved long-standing assumptions about the human body and how it worked

• debunked a lot of myths about the human body

• were largely ignored and didn't contribute to the world's understanding of science

Women's Contributions

• Between 1650-1710 women made up 14% of all German astronomers.

• Maria Winkelmann was a German astronomer who made contributions to astronomy including the discovery of a comet. Her husband took a lot of her credit.

• Margaret Cavendish wrote philosophy and science books, publishing under her real name instead of a male pseudonym.

Descartes and Rationalism

• Rene Descartes urged scientists to experiment but relied more on mathematics and logic.  He believed that everything should be doubted until proven by reason.

• Rationalism is a system of thought based on the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge.

Bacon & the Scientific Method

• Sir Francis Bacon was an English politician, who attacked medieval scholars for relying too much on the conclusions of Aristotle and other thinkers. Urged scientist to observe and experiment before making conclusions.

• This is called empiricism, or the experimental method.

The Scientific Method

• The Scientific Method was a logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas.

• (1) A problem or question arising from an observation. (2) A hypothesis or unproved assumption is made.

• (3) The hypothesis is tested in an experiment or on the basis of data collected. (4) Finally, scientist analyze and interpret the data to reach a new conclusion that either confirms or disproves the hypothesis.

Multiple Choice

Used by Winkelmann, Descartes, and Bacon, ________ is the experimental method

• chemistry

• astronomy

• empiricism

• pseudonym