1. a new way of thinking about the physical world, using reason, logic & theory testing, which led to modern science.(mid 1500s)
Remember, the Renaissance was a time of great change in Europe. The Renaissance was a rebirth of learning and the arts, and inspired curiosity in everything. Scholars began to question ideas that had been accepted for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the religious movement known as the Reformation challenged the normal ways of thinking about God and salvation. While the Reformation was taking place, another revolution in Europe had begun. This one that would permanently change how people viewed the physical world. This was the Scientific Revolution.
Before 1500, believed what ancient Greek or Roman thinkers or to what the Bible said about the physical world. If those texts said that the earth was the center of the Universe, they believed it. A few European scholars challenged the scientific ideas of the ancient thinkers or the church by carefully observing nature for themselves.

2. Protestant Reformation
Michelangelo
Begins painting the
Sistine Chapel
1508
Galileo stands
Trial for his ideas
1633
Columbus
reaches
America
1492
Cortés conquers the
Aztec Empire
1521
Copernicus begins
Research on the
Solar System
Martin Luther
Begins the
Protestant Reformation
1517
I. New Theories About the Universe
- geocentric - view that earth is the center of the universe
A. Nicolaus Copernicus
- earth was round
- Heliocentric - Earth rotates on an axis & around sun.
- published work before death
At the time Europeans believed in the views of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Ptolemy taught that the Earth was the center of the universe. This is called geocentric view. The Catholic church believed in this view as well, and remember to disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church was heresy, maximum punishment, being burned alive at the stake. Some researchers will risk their lives by voicing their new discoveries about the world.
Copernicus - He began his research in the Like Columbus, he too thought the world was round. He studied planetary movements for more than 25 years. He came up with the conclusion that the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun. Copernicus’s heliocentric, or sun-centered, theory still did not completely explain why the planets orbited the way they did. And he also knew that most people and more importantly the Catholic church would accuse him of heresy(disagreeing with the views of the Catholic Church.) To avoid the risk of excommunication, persecution or imprisonment for his views, Copernicus worked in privacy for years without publishing his ideas; friends helped him publish his work just before his death. He received a copy of his book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, on his deathbed.
Video on Copernicus begins here. Original link:
Mac users click on the black circle on the bottom right.

3. Protestant Reformation
Michelangelo
Begins painting the
Sistine Chapel
1508
Galileo stands
Trial for his ideas
1633
Columbus
reaches
America
1492
Cortés conquers the
Aztec Empire
1521
Copernicus begins
Research on the
Solar System
Martin Luther
Begins the
Protestant Reformation
1517
I. New Theories About the Universe
- geocentric - view that earth is the center of the universe
A. Nicolaus Copernicus
- earth was round
- Heliocentric - Earth rotates on an axis & around sun.
- published work after death
At the time Europeans believed in the views of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Ptolemy taught that the Earth was the center of the universe. This is called geocentric view. The Catholic church believed in this view as well, and remember to disagree with the teachings of the Catholic Church was heresy, maximum punishment, being burned alive at the stake. Some researchers will risk their lives by voicing their new discoveries about the world.
Copernicus - He began his research in the Like Columbus, he too thought the world was round. He studied planetary movements for more than 25 years. He came up with the conclusion that the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun. Copernicus’s heliocentric, or sun-centered, theory still did not completely explain why the planets orbited the way they did. And he also knew that most people and more importantly the Catholic church would accuse him of heresy(disagreeing with the views of the Catholic Church.) To avoid the risk of excommunication, persecution or imprisonment for his views, Copernicus worked in privacy for years without publishing his ideas; friends helped him publish his work just before his death. He received a copy of his book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, on his deathbed.
Video on Copernicus begins here. Original link:
Mac users click on the black circle on the bottom right.

4. Protestant Reformation
Michelangelo
Begins painting the
Sistine Chapel
1508
Galileo stands
Trial for his ideas
1633
Columbus
reaches
America
1492
Cortés conquers the
Aztec Empire
1521
Copernicus begins
Research on the
Solar System
Martin Luther
Begins the
Protestant Reformation
1517
I. New Theories About the Universe
A. Nicolaus Copernicus
- earth was round
- Heliocentric - Earth rotates on an axis & around sun.
- published work before death
Most experts at the time said Copernicus was wrong. But in the late 1500s, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (tee koh brah uh) showed evidence that supported Copernicus’s theory. Brahe set up an astronomical observatory and every night for years, he recorded the movement of the planets, accumulating data about the movement of the sky. After Brahe’s death, his assistant, a German astronomer and mathematician named Johannes Kepler, used Brahe’s data to mathematically calculate that Copernicus was correct. He was also able to show that the planets move in ellipticals rather than circles around the sun.
Kepler - proofed Copernicus’ assertions that earth wasn’t the center of the universe, and also discovered that the planets moved in eclipses rather than circles and that they move at different speeds.
Unlike Copernicus, Kepler was Protestant and lived in the Protestant North of Europe, therefore didn’t have to fear excommunication or trial from the Catholic Church.
B. Johannes Kepler
- mathematical proof that the planets revolve around the sun AND…
- in ellipses.

5. Protestant Reformation
Michelangelo
Begins painting the
Sistine Chapel
1508
Galileo stands
Trial for his ideas
1633
Columbus
reaches
America
1492
Cortés conquers the
Aztec Empire
1521
Copernicus begins
Research on the
Solar System
Martin Luther
Begins the
Protestant Reformation
1517
II. Challenging the Church
A. Galileo Galilei
• confirmed Copernicus’ theory - discovered 4 moons of Jupiter
• Pope Urban VIII tried him for heresy
Galileo - In 1609, an Italian named Galileo Galilei built his own telescope and discovered moons circling other planets. Because there are moons that revolve around Jupiter, not all “heavenly bodies” revolve around the earth, and that some planets (venus)could revolve around the sun.
He went to Rome to persuade the Church not to ban his ideas. The book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published in 1632, with the Pope Urban VIII’s permission and with conditions. The first condition was that Galileo was to give arguments for & against heliocentrism in the book, and not to advocate heliocentrism. His other condition was that the Pope’s views on the matter be included in Galileo's book.
The book was a dialog between two characters debating Galileo’s and the old Church’s views. One character, Simplifies is the defender of the old view in book. He came across as a fool and Galileo put the words of Pope Urban VIII into the mouth of Simplicio. Simplicio is similar to “Simplicius" meaning “simple minded” in Italian.
--After he published his ideas, the Catholic Church banned the book. Urban took Galileo to trial and forced him to recant or take back all of his statements.
“I, Galileo Galilei, . . .swear that with honest heart and in good faith I curse. . . the said heresies and errors as to the movement of the earth around the sun and all other heresies and ideas opposed to the Holy Church; and I swear that I never assert or say anything either orally or in writing, that could put me under such suspicion”