1. Chapter 16 Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth:
The Scientific Revolution and the Emergence of Modern Science

2. A nineteenth-century painting of Galileo before the Holy Office in the Vatican in 1633.

3. Background to the Scientific Revolution
Medieval Science
Renaissance Humanists
Contradictions of Aristotle and Galen
Renaissance artists and their impact on scientific study
Close Observation of Nature
Perspective and Anatomical Proportions
Technological Innovations
Mathematics
Hermetic Magic
Alchemy

4. Medieval Conception of the Universe.
As this sixteenth-century illustration shows, the medieval cosmological view placed the earth at the center of the universe, surrounded by a series of concentric spheres. The earth was imperfect and constantly changing, whereas the heavenly bodies that surrounded it were perfect and incorruptible. Beyond the tenth and final sphere was heaven, where God and all the saved souls were located. (The circles read, from the center outward: 1. Moon, 2. Mercury, 3. Venus, 4. Sun, 5. Mars, 6. Jupiter, 7. Saturn, 8. Firmament (of the Stars), 9. Crystalline Sphere, 10. Prime Mover; and around the outside, Empyrean Heaven—Home of God and All the Elect, that is, saved souls.)
p. 490

5. The Copernican System.
The Copernican system was presented in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, published shortly before Copernicus’s death. As shown in this illustration from the first edition of the book, Copernicus maintained that the sun was the center of the universe and that the planets, including the earth, revolved around it. Moreover, the earth rotated daily on its axis. (The circles read, from the inside out: 1. Sun; 2. Mercury, orbit of 80 days; 3. Venus; 4. Earth, with the moon, orbit of one year; 5. Mars, orbit of 2 years; 6. Jupiter, orbit of 12 years; 7. Saturn, orbit of 30 years; 8. Immobile Sphere of the Fixed Stars.)
p. 491

6. Toward a New Heaven: A Revolution in Astronomy
Aristotle, Claudius Ptolemy and Christian Theology
Geocentric Universe
Ten Spheres surrounded the Earth
Christianized Ptolemaic Universe
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543)
On The Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres
Heliocentric Universe
Creates doubt about the Ptolemaic system

7. A Revolution in Astronomy, Continued
Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)
Interest in Hermetic thought and Mathematical magic
“Music of the Spheres”
Laws of Planetary Motion
Discredits Ptolemaic System
Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642)
The Telescope
The Starry Messenger
Condemned by the Church
Scientific leadership passes to England, France and the Netherlands

8. Johannes Kepler.
Abandoning theology in favor of mathematics and astrology, Kepler became a key figure in the rise of the new astronomy. Building on Tycho Brahe’s vast store of astronomical data, Kepler discovered the three laws of planetary motion that both confirmed and modified the Copernican theory. They also eliminated the Ptolemaic-Aristotelian ideas of uniform circular motion and crystalline spheres moving in circular orbits. This portrait was done by an unknown painter three years before Kepler’s death.
p. 493

9. The Telescope.
The invention of the telescope enabled Europeans to inaugurate a new age in astronomy. Shown here is Johannes Hevelius, an eminent German-Polish astrologer (1611–1697), making an observation with his telescope. Hevelius’s observations were highly regarded. He located his telescope on the roof of his own house, and by the 1660s, his celestial observatory was considered one of the best in Europe.
p. 493

10. Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)
Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University
Invented Calculus
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1684 – 1686): The Principia
Three Laws of Motions
Universal Force “Laws of Gravity”
World seen in mechanistic terms
Does not dispute that God exists

11. Isaac Newton.
With a single law, that of universal gravitation, Isaac Newton was able to explain all motion in the universe. His great synthesis of the work of his predecessors created a new picture of the universe, one in which the universe was viewed as a great machine operating according to natural laws. Enoch Seeman painted this portrait of Newton one year before his death.
p. 498

12. Advances in Medicine Medieval Medicine dominated by Galen
two separate blood systems
four body humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile)--bleeding and purging used to fix these
Paracelsus ( )
disease comes from chemical imbalances (alchemy to treat sickness)
Andreas Vesalius (1514 – 1564)
On the Fabric of the Human Body (1543)
Dissection of a human body
Corrects Galen’s errors via human dissection
William Harvey
On the Motion of the Heart and Blood (1628)
Circulation of the blood (on system)

13. Chronology, p. 501

14. Women of Modern Science
New Opportunities for Women
Largely informal education
Margaret Cavendish (1623 – 1673)
Observations upon Experimental Philosophy
Grounds of Natural Philosophy
Attacked rationalist and empiricist approaches to scientific knowledge
Maria Sibylla Merian ( )
Entomologist (studied and dissected bugs in South America)
German Women
1 in 7 German astronomers was a woman
Maria Winkelmann (1670 – 1720)
Discovered comet
Rejected for a post by the Berlin Academy

15. Margaret Cavendish.
Shown in this portrait is Margaret Cavendish, the duchess of Newcastle. Her husband, who was thirty years her senior, encouraged her to pursue her literary interests. In addition to scientific works, she wrote plays, an autobiography, and a biography of her husband titled The Life of the Thrice Noble, High and Puissant Prince William Cavendish, Duke, Marquess and Earl of Newcastle. The autobiography and biography led one male literary critic to call her ‘‘a mad, conceited and ridiculous woman.’’
p. 502

16. Debate over the nature of women
Women portrayed as inherently base, prone to vice, easily swayed, and “sexually insatiable”
Women joined debate in the 17th century and reject this view
Science used to “perpetrate old stereotypes about women”
Scientific revolution reaffirmed traditional ideas about women’s nature

17. Toward a New Earth: Descartes, Rationalism, and a New View of Humankind
Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)
Discourse on Method (1637)
“I think, therefore I am.”
Cartesian Dualism or the separation of mind and matter.
Father of modern rationalism
Deductive reasoning
Inventor of Analytic Geometry

18. Descartes.
René Descartes was one of the primary figures in the Scientific Revolution. Claiming to use reason as his sole guide to truth, Descartes posited a sharp distinction between mind and matter. He is shown here in a portrait by Frans Hals, one of the painters of the Dutch golden age who was famous for his portraits, especially that of Descartes.
p. 504

19. The Spread of Scientific Knowledge
Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626)
Idols of the Mind (people see through a foggy glass)
Idols of the Tribe (preconceptions of things or a tendency to jump to conclusions)
Idols of the Cave (personal biases or beliefs do to a lack of education or limited education—religious)
Idols of the Marketplace (language misuse obscures understanding)
Idols of the Theatre (following current beliefs--what’s vogue or fashionable in thought)
Novum Organum
“Scientific Method” built on inductive principles (form a Hypothesis, gather information to predict via experimentation, analyze results, re-test to verify results, publish findings)
Control and domination of nature

20. Louis XIV and Colbert Visit the Academy of Sciences.
In the seventeenth century, individual scientists received royal and princely patronage, and a number of learned societies were established. In France, Louis XIV, urged on by his controller general, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, gave formal recognition to the French Academy in In this painting by Henri Testelin, Louis XIV is shown seated, surrounded by Colbert and members of the French Royal Academy of Sciences.
p. 506

21. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich.
To facilitate their astronomical investigations, both the English and the French constructed observatories such as the one pictured here, which was built at Greenwich, England, in Here the royal astronomer works at the table while his two assistants make observations.
p. 507

22. The Scientific Societies
English Royal Society
Informal meetings at London and Oxford
Received formal charter in 1662 from Charles II
French Royal Academy
Informal meetings in Paris
Formally recognized by Louis XIV (1666)
Societies recognized practical value of scientific research
Both focus on theoretical work in mechanics and astronomy

23. Science and Society People recognized Science’s rational superiority
Science offered new ways to exploit resources for profit

24. Chronology, p. 509

25. Blaise Pascal.
Blaise Pascal was a brilliant scientist and mathematician who hoped to keep science and Christianity united. In his Pensées, he made a passionate argument on behalf of the Christian religion. He is pictured here in a portrait by Philippe de Champaigne, a well-known French portrait painter of the Baroque period.
p. 509

26. Science and Religion in the Seventeenth Century
Conflict between Science and Religion
Scientific beliefs triumph, while Religious beliefs began to suffer
Benedict de Spinoza
Philosophy of pantheism, in which God has no existence apart from the world—everything was itself an aspect of God.
Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662)
Mystical vision (1654)
Sought to keep science and religion united
Pensées (Thoughts)
Sought to convert rationalists to Christianity, did not see Christianity as contrary to reason, and reason had its limits.

27. Timeline, p. 512

28. Discussion Questions
How did the Middle Ages and the Renaissance contribute to the Scientific Revolution?
Why were advances in Mathematics so important during the Scientific Revolution?
Why did religious leaders react so negatively to the new advances in Science, especially in astronomy?
Why is Newton’s Principia called the “hinge point of modern scientific thought?
How did women come to play such an important role in the Scientific Revolution?
Why did the scientific society refuse to recognize women involved in the sciences?