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The Scientific Revolution Essential Questions • What factors in Europe from the 12th century on helped to prepare Europeans and help them make the breakthrough to a modern scientific way of thinking? • Why was the question of the position of the earth and sun in the universe so important in debates about natural science in the late Middle Ages? • In what ways did ancient Greek thinkers like Aristotle, Galen, Ptolemy and others prepare Europeans to make the breakthrough to modern science yet also thwart their efforts to do so somewhat? Essential Questions (continued) • Why are the philosophers Rene Descartes and Francis Bacon seen as key to the development of the scientific method even though neither was actually a scientist? • Why are the contributions of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton often linked together as the key series of contributions that launched the Scientific Revolution? • How did the development of various instruments for making new kinds of observations and measurements contribute to the development of the Scientific Revolution? What Was the Scientific Revolution? • A revolution in human understanding and knowledge about the physical universe • 17th century • Began with Kepler, Galileo • Ended with Newton “Science” Before the Scientific Revolution • Based almost entirely on reasoning • Experimental method or observation wasn’t used at all • Science in medieval times – Alchemy – Astrology A medieval alchemist Factors Leading to the Scientific Revolution • Rise of universities • Contact with nonWestern societies • The Renaissance • Exploration Rationalism • Reason, not tradition, is the source of all knowledge • René Descartes (1596–1650) • French philosopher and mathematician • Cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore, I am”) • Deductive reasoning René Descartes Empiricism • The belief that experience is the only true source of knowledge • Roger Bacon • Shift toward empiricism a hallmark of the Scientific Revolution • Helped lead to the development of the scientific method Roger Bacon Francis Bacon and the Scientific Method • 1561–1626 • English philosopher and empiricist • Inductive reasoning • Argued for experimental methodology The Scientific Method Science as a multiple-step process: 1. Observe an 2. Develop a object or theory that phenomenon explains the object or phenomenon 3. Test the theory with experiments
