The Scientific Revolution Mr. Meester AP European History Pages 454-559

The Scientific Revolution This “Revolution” established and tried to explain a new view of the universe. It was based on Ancient, Middle Age, & Contemporary views and ideas Science as we know it was born during this era New Technology New Institutions New Disciplines New Methods

Revival of Astronomy During the 16 century there was a great revival in the study of astronomy. Among the Greek writings recovered during the Renaissance were those of Aristarchus of Samos. In the 200s B.C. Aristarchus had proposed the Helio-centric Theory of the earth revolving around the sun. Up until this time, most Europeans followed Church doctrine of the Geo-centric Theory.

The Ptolemaic System Developed in Ancient Greece & fully explained by Roman astronomer Ptolemy It was a Geocentric system with the Earth was in the center Crystalline spheres contained the heavenly bodies There were many problems with the Ptolemaic system It did predict the location of heavenly bodies in the sky

Nicholas Copernicus 1543 Published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres He kept many parts of the Ptolemaic system, but had a Heliocentric Model It improved on Ptolemy’s model ,but wasn’t anymore accurate Inspired other astronomers to follow

Tycho Brahe Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe, built the best observatory of his time He collected extensive data on the location of the stars and planets. Brahe did not accept Copernicus’s views. He was a Geocentrist but with a twist Brahe’s discovery of a new star in 1572, and the appearance of a comet in 1577, shattered the beliefs in an unchanging sky and crystalline spheres.

Tycho’s Model of the Solar System

Johann Kepler Was the assistant to Brahe and continued his work Believed Copernicus’s theory more than Copernicus He proved, mathematically, that Copernicus was correct in his theory Kepler’s theory was the first to actually portray the motion of the planets

Galileo Galilei At the same time Kepler was publishing his work Galileo used a telescope to prove Heliocentricism Needed patronage to continue his work Provided observable evidence Popularized the belief that the universe was rational The natural world could be described using math

Isaac Newton The mathematical work of Isaac Newton was the high point of the scientific revolution. In 1687, Newton published The Mathematical Principals of Natural Philosophy, better known as the Principia Mathematica. Theory of Gravity Newton believed in empiricism Liked Francis Bacon Disagreed with Rene Descartes