7.32: Prophets of a Scientific Civilization: Bacon and Descartes Chapter 7: The Scientific View of the World

Scientific Revolution Montaigne’s Essays Bacon’s Norganum Organum Descartes’ Discourse on Method Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of Heavenly Orbs (1543) Tycho Brahe’s Observations Johann Kepler’s Rudolphine Tables Galileo’s Discourse Concerning the Two Chief Systems Newton’s Principia

Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation man past knowledge as the most reliable source of wisdom –Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas Geocentric (Ptolemaic) world –8-10 crystal (hierarchical spheres –4 elements/ 4 humours –Great Chain of Being Hierarchical link from God down to insects abstract wisdom would help man turn away from the corruptibility of the earth Enlightenment man rejected ancient authority –relied on their own observable intellects Modern Science –A fusion of experimental observation & mathematics Heliocentric world –Sun-centered –World Machine Universe was demystified & worked like a mechanical clock (predictable & understandable, orderly and harmonious saw knowledge as useless unless it could be put to use “the relief of man’s estate” Changes in Intellectual Environment

Science before the Seventeenth Century Can we mark the advent of sceince with Leonardo? –Anatomy, astronomy, engineer –dissected over 30 bodies –conceived of circulation of the blood –movement of the earth around the sun –designed submarines, airplanes –BUT didn’t publish anything –Isolated genius and did not transmit his ideas to others SCIENCE depends on the transmission of ideas

The Skeptics Skepticism is the doctrine that knowledge is not possible, either about some particular topic, e.g. religion or the natural world or mathematics -- or in general Doubting frame of mind, held that no certain knowledge is possible for human beings, all beliefs are only customs Montaigne ( ) –French Renaissance thinker –Essays (1580) Studies himself (thoughts, habits, beliefs) to better understand mankind Que sais-je? What do I know? Answer: Nothing Positive about skepticism: challenge and question everything and be tolerant, broadminded Negative: fatalism, Oh well Michel de Montaigne

Fathers of Scientific Revolution Go beyond skeptics Truth –is not postulated from the start and then worked within a paradigm –It is something found at the end of long process or investigation, experiment, observation How is truth attained? inductive reasoning –proceeding from the particular to the general, from concrete to abstract This ice is cold. All ice is cold. deductive- –start with general information and infer specific All apples are fruit. All fruits grow on trees. Therefore all apples grow on trees. True and reliable knowledge exists and can be employed to the benefit of humans Bacon and Descartes 1620 to 1640 In the Center is a bust of the Society's Founder - Charles II Left is William Brouncker- The first President On the Right is Francis Bacon the Inspiration of the Royal Society

Sir Francis Bacon ( ) Novum Organum (New Instrument) (1620) The New Atlantis (1627)The New Atlantis championed empiricism- knowledge based on observation and experience wanted people to rid themselves of preconceptions, traditional ideas and look with fresh eyes, use their senses portrayed a scientific utopia: society based on the results of science –Inhabitants enjoyed a perfect society through knowledge and control of nature Usefulness of knowledge became main element of Baconian tradition It can be used for practical purposes –ex. Weapon are more accurate (science of ballistics) Called on scientist to share their knowledge by recording their experiments and to rid themselves of superstition and religion in science (he called philosophy) Fails to recognize importance of mathematics –It proceeds deductively from axioms to theorems Science is both inductive and deductive

Rene Descartes ( ) All knowledge of past should be discarded Considered the inventor of coordinate geometry Any algebraic formula could be plotted as a curve in space and any curve in space could be converted into an algebraic term Knowledge is worthy if it is useful to mankind

Discourse on Method (1637)Method –Proposed the principle of systematic doubt –1st rule was “never to receive anything as a truth which he did not clearly know to be such” –after doubting everything he realized his mere process of thought confirmed his own existence (I think, therefore I am) (Cogito ergo sum) –used this as his starting point and began to reconstruct the universe, the existence of God could not be empirically verified but he believed that nature is so small that it eludes our senses anyway Rene Descartes ( )

Descartes Influence Although his system of thought did not reveal any new discoveries it did help disprove errors of ancients Stress on math to pursue science proved invaluable Cartesian Dualism-God created two kinds of reality: –Thinking Substance- Mind, spirit, consciousness –subjective experience –Extended Substance- matter, & everything outside the mind –Objective experience

Mind belonged to man alone Everything else was matter and operated according to physical laws everything else was a machine therefore the entire universe could be understood without the help of religion apparent attribute to matter (sound, light, taste) were subjective impressions of the mind and not subject to science The natural world can be controlled! Descartes Influence