1. The Scientific Revolution ca 1540-1690
AP European History
Androstic

2. Before 17th century… science done by trial and error
Little communication between “scientists”
Isolated geniuses (example: da Vinci)
Deductive method used
Science aligned with religious beliefs
“age of charlatans” (Nostradamus)

3. Isolated Genius Leonardo da Vinci Engineer and scientist
Works not published
Known for art
Notebooks discovered-20th century
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4. Deductive Reasoning
Drawing logical implications from what we already know
Caps learning at what we thought at the beginning

5. Age of Charlatans Mixed magic and valid science
Made wild predictions, often unintelligible to future generations
Kings still kept astrologers on staff
Nostradamus ( )

6. After 17th century… Science becomes modern, systemized, organized
Science popularized
Science plays major role in other domains
Changed relationship between God and man
Increasing skepticism

7. Skepticism Developing – end of 16th c.
All beliefs are essentially customs
No way for humans to prove anything
“Que sais-je?”
Led to theories of Descartes and Bacon
Michel de Montaigne
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8. Francis Bacon/Rene Descartes
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Rene Descartes
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9. Francis Bacon/Rene Descartes
Similarities:
Questioned if humans could know anything about the world with certainty
Considered philosophies of the past worthless
Criticized ancient books and deductive method
Believed truth comes after experimentation, not before

10. Francis Bacon
encouraged use of empiricism and inductive method (Novum Organum)
Insisted that true knowledge was useful knowledge (The Advancement of Learning)
envisioned scientific utopia – inhabitants enjoyed perfect society through knowledge/command of nature (The New Atlantis)

11. Inductive vs. Deductive

12. Rene Descartes Mathematician (invented coordinate geometry)
Created idea that nature could be expressed mathematically
Tried to doubt everything to clear the slate for new understanding
Concluded “cogito ergo sum”
Established “Cartesian dualism”
Descartes’ famous saying epitomizes the dualism concept. He said, “cogito ergo sum,” “I reflect therefore I am.” Descartes held that the immaterial mind and the material body are two completely different types of substances and that they interact with each other. He reasoned that the body could be divided up by removing a leg or arm, but the mind or soul were indivisible.

13. Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes, used observation (and in Descartes case, mathematics) to create a new system or acquiring information. These contributions led to the development of the scientific method as we know it, the scientific revolution, and science applied to the real world domains to produce a more progressive society.