Download Essay Physics: Science in the Renaissance

Essay Physics: Science in
the Renaissance
Introduction
The Renaissance, where traders started to explore, civilians started to dominate, and
scientists started to observate, experiment, and discover.
Science in the Renaissance was a lot different than science nowadays.
The most important guys for science in the Renaissance were of course: Galileo
Galilei, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Tycho Brahe.
Their ideas, and adoption of ideas will be discussed.
Science in the Renaissance
Old situation:
The church was very important in the Renaissance, though it lost its power, it still
kept the knowledge secret, and controlled science.
The church adopted the Greek view.
Greek view:
Natural Motion: There are 4 elements (Earth, Water, Air, Fire/Smoke), and they each
have their own place. Some things will rise above, or sink under other things.
Unnatural motion: If you take away the source of the motion, the motion stops.
Changed situation:
Copernicus’ book ‘On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies’, was brought out during
the Scientific Revolution. It revealed the (for that time) truth.
Ideas Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei, also known as ‘the father of modern science’, ‘the
father of science’, ‘the father of astronomy’, and ‘the father of
physics’ was very important during the Scientific Revolution.
Galileo is called the father of modern science, because according
to him; only the experiments determine what is
correct.
He did a lot of experiments
He dropped two cannon balls exactly at the same
time from the Tower of Pisa, one was heavier
than the other. They hit the ground at the same
time.
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Anis Oepkes
2L
April 2011
Also when he rolled the ball down a slope, the height it ended on, was the same as it
started, no matter how steep the slope is.
Astronomy: Galileo built his own telescope with 3x magnification, it was based on
descriptions of the first telescope, invented in the Netherlands.
He also discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, the Galilean Moons.
Ideas Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus is known for his Heliocentric ideas. He
believed that the earth rotates around the sun, instead of
everything rotating around the earth. The sun was in the centre of
the universe. He liked Galileo’s ideas, which he improved.
Copernicus said that the earth not only made cycles
around the sun, but also made epicycles around its own
axis.
His book ‘On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies’
contained his ideas about the planets and universe. It
was very important during the Scientific Revolution.
Ideas Johannes Kepler
3 laws of planetary motion:
1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at
one of the two foci.
2. A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal
intervals of time
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Anis Oepkes
2L
April 2011
3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube
of the semi-major axis of its orbit. (orbital period = year, semi-major axis =
radius of axis, year² = radius of axis³)
Ideas Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe combined the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the
philosophical benefits of the Ptolemaic system, which made the Tychonic system.
Tychonic system: The earth is at the
the universe, the sun and the moon
around the earth, the other five
rotate around the sun.
center of
rotate
planets
Brahe also observed a lot, he
the supernova from 1572. He wrote a
book about it called ‘De Nova Stella’
Star).
observed
small
(The New
Conclusion
Science has changed through the years, it started with the Greeks and Romans,
made a great Revolution in the Renaissance, and is developing more and more right
now. Galileo might be the most important man in the history of science. His ideas,
adopted by Copernicus, Kepler and Brahe were slightly changed and improved by
them.
3
Anis Oepkes
2L
April 2011