The Scientific Revolution

​The Scientific Revolution

​Terms & Names

indulgence Release from punishments due for a sin

Reformation 16th-century movement for religious reform, leading to the founding of new Christian churches

Lutheran Member of a Protestant church founded on the teachings of Martin Luther

Protestant Member of a Christian church founded on the principles of the Reformation

Anglican Relating to the Church of England

​Terms & Names (continued)

predestination Doctrine that God has decided all things beforehand, including which people will be saved

Calvinism Religious teachings based on the ideas of the reformer John Calvin

theocracy Government controlled by religious leaders

Scientific Revolution New way of thinking about the natural world based on careful observation and a willingness to question

scientific method Logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas

​Terms & Names (continued)

Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomer who developed a heliocentric theory

Galileo Galilei Scientist who was forced by the Catholic Church to take back scientific ideas that contradicted the church’s view

Isaac Newton Scientist who discovered laws of motion and gravity

Robert Boyle Scientist considered to be the founder of modern chemistry

​How did modern science begin?

During the Middle Ages, few scholars questioned long-held beliefs. Europeans based their ideas on ancient Greek and Romans beliefs or on the Bible. People still thought that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun, moon, other planets, and stars moved around it.

In the mid-1500s, attitudes began to change. Scholars started what is called the Scientific Revolution. It was a new way of thinking about the natural world, based on careful observation and the willingness to question old beliefs. European voyages of exploration helped to bring about the Scientific Revolution. When Europeans explored new lands, they saw plants and animals that ancient writers had never seen. These discoveries led to new courses of study in the universities of Europe.

​Causes of the Scientific Revolution:

●Classical Greek, Roman, and Muslim texts were obtained through trade, translated into vernacular languages, and spread through the printing press.

●Emphasis on the development of modern technology for exploration and expansion encouraged interest in the fields of math and science and was often sponsored by European monarchs.

●Due to the Protestant Reformation, a weakened Catholic Church, and the emphasis on humanism and secularism during the Renaissance, people were more-free to express their thoughts and challenge the traditional authority of the Church.

●New emphasis on the scientific method and reasoning; collecting data to back up one’s hypothesis (Francis Bacon).

​Effects of the Scientific Revolution:

●Scientists, once afraid to think, write, and publish, could now experiment and publish with less threat of punishment from the Catholic Church.

●As European empires expanded, scientific thinking spread to the areas it colonized as well as through the global trade network.

●Science was used to form solutions to societal problems and concerns.

●The study of medical conditions and medical treatments advanced

​How did new ideas change accepted thinking in astronomy?

The first challenge to accepted thinking in science came in astronomy. In the early 1500s, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, studied the stars and planets. He developed a heliocentric theory. Heliocentric meant sun-centered. It said that Earth, like all the other planets, revolved around the sun. Copernicus did not publish his findings until just before his death. He had been afraid that his ideas would be attacked because they went against the geocentric theory. This theory held that the earth was at the center of the universe.

​An Italian scientist—Galileo Galilei— made several discoveries that also undercut ancient ideas. He made one of the first telescopes and used it to study the planets. He found that Jupiter had moons, the sun had spots, and Earth’s moon was rough. Some of his ideas about the earth, the sun, and the planets went against the teaching of the Catholic Church. Church authorities forced Galileo to take back his statements. Still, his ideas spread.

​Why was the scientific method an important development?

Interest in science led to a new approach, the scientific method. With this method, scientists ask a question based on something they have seen in the physical world. They form a hypothesis, or an attempt to answer the question. Then they test the hypothesis by making experiments or checking other facts. Finally, they change the hypothesis if needed. The English writer Francis Bacon helped create this new approach to knowledge. He said scientists should base their thinking on what they can observe and test.

​What scientific discoveries were made?

In the mid-1600s, the English scientist Isaac Newton described the law of gravity. Using mathematics, Newton showed that the same force ruled both the motion of planets and the action of bodies on the earth.

Doctors also made advances. In the late 1700s, Edward Jenner first used the process called vaccination to prevent disease. By giving a person the germs from a cattle disease called cowpox, he helped that person avoid getting the more serious human disease of smallpox.

Scientists made progress in chemistry. Robert Boyle questioned the old idea that things were made of only four elements— earth, air, fire, and water. He and other scientists separated oxygen from air.