What Is Science and Where Did It Come From?

The Scientific Revolution began in the 1500's. New observations and theories about the natural world created a different mindset about the study of our Earth. This eventually caused people to dismiss the traditional religious teachings about our planet. Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton were pioneering scientists that came up with ground breaking discoveries and theories. Nicolaus Copernicus came up with the heliocentric theory. This was the idea that Earth, and all of the other planets in the solar system, revolve around the sun, which was in the middle. In the early 1600's, Galileo Galilei created the telescope. He used this tool to gaze up at the sky. The observations that he made using the telescope supported Copernicus's

The Scientific Revolution was a time of improvements in medicine, knowledge of the body, and knowledge of the universe. People questioned nature and what was taught by the Church. Sir Issac Newton developed the laws of gravity when an apple fell from a tree, Robert Boyle distinguished between elements and compounds, and Andreas Vesalius made the first accurate detailed study of human anatomy. The most revolutionary theory is seen in Document C. Greek astronomer Ptolemy said that the universe was geocentric, the earth is at the center of the universe. It agreed with what was taught by the Church and was accepted by all. However Copernicus said the universe was heliocentric, the sun is at the center of the universe and the earth revolved around it. The Church was not happy since it went against its teachings, but Galileo set up an astronomical telescope and proved the universe was

Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were

"The growth of commerce and industry led to the technological advances, which in turn stimulated, and were stimulated by science.” (p. 403) The European scientific revolution was fueled by the blending of “liberal” and “servile” arts, in other words, science and technology. Because of the European expansion taking place throughout the world, new commerce and industries were advancing, creating the need for new technology and science. The theories and inventions that Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton provided were the fist major advances during the scientific revolution, and perhaps were the most profound.

Among these people were Copernicus who believed the sun was at the center of the world and the earth, stars and planets revolved around it. Danish astronomer Brahe helped contribute to this idea by contributing a large mass of data about the universe that he was able to discover. His student Kepler kept his ideas going, as he formulated many laws of planetary motion. He said the orbits around the sun were elliptical, planets don’t move in a uniform speed and the time a planet completes its orbit is related to its distance from the sun. Meanwhile, Florentine Galileo decided to use experiments to find out what happened and not what should happen, and discovered that a uniform force makes a uniform acceleration as well as inertia laws, that an object will be in motion forever unless stopped by another force.

The scientific revolution started in around 1543. The scientific revolution was a time period where there were developments in math,biology,chemistry,and astronomy. This led to people such as Nicholas Copernicus and Issac Newton creating things such as calculus and the idea of a heliocentric solar system. These people were key figures in the scientific revolution. Because of this time period of learning everyone from the rich to the poor were effected during and after the Scientific Revolution.

The Scientific Revolution changed society with the birth of “modern science”; it changed the way people thought about the physical world around them. The same spirit of inquiry that fueled the Renaissance, led scientists to question traditional beliefs about the workings of the universe. The conflict all began with Copernicus’ heliocentric model being introduced to the world- going against the Church’s traditional teachings. Nicolaus Copernicus developed the heliocentric model of the universe- stating that the sun is the center, and that other planets revolve around it. Despite his calculations, people disagreed and kept on believing in Ptolemy’s geocentric model.

A Polish scientist brought a new idea that would make many people think. “Nicolaus Copernicus believed that the center of the Universe was the sun or the Heliocentric View” (Document D). This illustrates that many people discovered new aspects of science. As a result, more ideas will spark from others, coming off of Nicolaus’s new speculation. Next, the famous “Renaissance Man” studies this sophisticated topic.

the heliocentric solar system. Johannes Kepler further modified the heliocentric system, by mathematically showing that the planets’ orbits are elliptical. With his invention of the telescope, Galileo made new observations about the solar system and found mathematical laws that described the movement of the planets. Later, Isaac Newton established a universal law of gravity. With the new scientific discoveries, the gap between religion and science increased. Science revolutionized the human though and its understanding of the universe.

The Scientific Revolution was at its height during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with many supporters and critics of the works of scientists. It was the transition from the medieval, philosophical and religious perspective to a secular and rational perspective. One of the biggest debates that defined the Scientific Revolution was the debate over whether the universe was geocentric (with the earth at the center of the universe), or heliocentric (with the earth revolving around the sun). The works of these scientists was influenced by political leaders for their desire in power, the clash of ideas between religious leaders and institutions, and differentiation towards female scientists and unorganization in research. In all, each of these three parts of society contributed to the Scientific Revolution in very important ways.

Briefly explain what is meant by the “scientific revolution” that took place in seventeenth century Europe, and how it marked a departure from ancient and medieval philosophy.

The Scientific Revolution sparked from the Renaissance and the “medieval view of the universe”(231) that previously governed the views of the people. Three key people in the Scientific Revolution were Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Nicolaus Copernicus was “a Polish astronomer”(233)

These laws include that the orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci, that a line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time, and that the square of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the cube of a semi-major axis of its orbit. Kepler changed the traditional interpretation of nature by uniting astronomical philosophy and mathematics. He united these by using mathematics to prove his findings of a sun-centered system rather than just using it to prove planetary movement as Copernicus had done. This new astronomy brought an entirely new theory of the cosmos. He challenged the source of knowledge when he eliminated the work of Aristotle and Ptolemy, and came close to the idea of universal gravitation with his third law.

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who lived between 1671-1630. Kepler was a Copernican and initially believed that planets should follow perfectly circular orbits (“Johan Kepler” 1). During this time period, Ptolemy’s geocentric theory of the solar system was accepted. Ptolemy’s theory stated that Earth is at the center of the universe and stationary; closest to Earth is the Moon, and beyond it, expanding towards the outside, are Mercury, Venus, and the Sun in a straight line, followed by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the “fixed stars”. The Ptolemaic system explained the numerous observed motions of the planets as having small spherical orbits called epicycles (“Astronomy” 2). Kepler is best known for introducing three

The Copernican Revolution involves the exchange of a “geocentric” worldview to a “heliocentric” view and is inseparably linked to the “scientific revolution” of the seventeenth century movement that represents a renewal of all scientific knowledge of the time. Contrary to popular belief, the “idea that the Earth was round” was written by many ancient Greek texts, and was supported by many philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Eratosthenes and Ptolemy, among others. (Cohen, 30) During the