Aim: How did The Scientific

Revolution change the way people

thought about the world?

Do Now:
answer the
two question
on your
handout!
 What is the Scientific Revolution?
The Scientific Revolution develops as an offshoot of the
Renaissance. The same questioning spirit that fueled the
Renaissance led scientists to question traditional beliefs
and the Church about the workings of the universe. It was
a new way of thinking about the natural world.

♦ Before 1500, the Bible and

Aristotle were the only
authorities accepted as truth
♦ A geocentric model of the
universe, in which the Earth is
at the center was supported
during the Middle Ages
 Causes of the Scientific Revolution

♦ Printing press spread new ideas

♦ Age of Exploration fueled a great deal of

scientific research because of technology
needed for navigation

♦ Translation of the works of Muslim scholars

opened the minds of European thinkers to
new scientific knowledge
 New Ideas About the Universe
Three scientists challenged traditional theories about the
universe and the Greco-Roman idea that the Earth was the
center of the universe:

•Copernicus (mid-1500’s)

•Galileo Galilei (early 1600’s)

•Isaac Newton (late 1600’s)

 Remember Nicholas Copernicus?
Up to the time of Copernicus, people thought that there was a
sort of crystal sphere the kept the planets, moon, and stars in
orbit around the Earth. It was Copernicus that proposed the
idea that the Earth revolved around the sun, and not vice
versa… The sun was the center of the Universe, not the Earth.
Most scholars rejected Copernicus’s theory.

NONSENSE!!!

Video Clip on Copernicus

 Galileo

Copernicus
was right!!!
 Galileo Galilei
He built a telescope and became the first man to use this tool
to study the moon and planets. What he saw made Galileo
believe Copernicus's idea that the Earth was not the center of
the universe.

The Church punished him

for his belief in this idea.
He was questioned by the
Inquisition and forced to
confess that his ideas
were wrong.
Why would the Church try
to prevent this idea from
becoming popular? Galileo Video Clip
 Question: If you drop a baseball and a
bowling ball off a ten story building, which
one will hit the ground first?
 Galileo Galilei
Galileo was an Italian mathematics teacher, astronomer and
physicist, and one of the first true scientists. He used an
experiment to test one of Aristotle’s theories.

Aristotle’s Galileo’s
theory: Experiment:

Heavier Finds objects of

objects fall different weights
faster than will fall at the same
lighter ones speed (in a
vacuum).
 The Scientific Method

This new method relied on experimentation and observation

rather than past authorities. It is still used by scientists today.
Galileo Galilei Fun Facts (1564 - 1642)

- He was one of the first Europeans to build

and use a telescope (he didn’t invent it!)

- Galileo used a telescope to observe the

moon, and saw craters. This proved that the moon was not a perfect
sphere… hmm… trouble…

- He saw moons on Jupiter (thus we have the Galilean Moons of Jupiter)

- Aristotle didn’t mention moons… they’re they are!!!
Question:
When something falls, why
does it fall down? Why
doesn’t it fall up or
sideways?
 Isaac Newton
“For every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction” – Isaac Newton
Newton
OUCH
I am
enjoying
!this
uneventful
day
 Isaac Newton
♦ What does an apple have to do
with gravity?
♦ Newton was sitting in the shade
of an apple tree when an apple
fell nearby. Newton began to
wonder why apples always fall
to the ground. Why don’t the
fall sideways or up? Newton
reasoned that the earth must
have a power that draws
objects to it. This was the
beginning of the law of gravity
and motion.
 Newton (1642-1727)
By the mid-1600’s, the accomplishments
of Copernicus and Galileo had shattered
the old views of astronomy and physics.

Isaac Newton brought it all together

under a single theory of motion.
 Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton’s discovery was that the same force

ruled the motions of the planets, the
pendulum, and all matter on earth and in
space.

Every object in the universe attracts every

other object. The degree of attraction
depends on the mass of the objects and the
distance between them.
Question:

Have you ever wondered

whether or not you
really exist?
 Rene Descartes
“The Father of Modern Philosophy”

“I think,
therefore I
am.”
•Descartes believed everything should be doubted until
proved by reason. Tradition should not be accepted as truth.
•Instead of using experimentation, Descartes relied on
mathematics and logic. He linked algebra and geometry as a
new tool for scientific research.
Rene Descartes
Descartes shifts thinking from
"what is true" to
"of what can I be certain?“
Descartes shifted the
authoritative power of truth
from God to Man.
(While traditional concept of
"truth" implies an external
authority, "certainty" instead
relies on the judgment of the
individual Man)
 New Inventions of the Scientific Revolution

♦ Edward Jenner introduced the first vaccine for

smallpox. (inoculation- injecting a germ in the body to
create an immunity).
♦ Telescope (1608, Dutch) A Dutch glass maker
constructed a primitive telescope. Galileo heard about it
and improved on the design.
♦ Microscope (1590s, Dutch)

♦ Barometer (early 1600s, Italian) - measure air pressure

♦ Thermometer (1611) for chemical and medical studies

When all was said and done…
the major thinkers of the Scientific
Revolution (Copernicus, Galileo, Newton,
Descartes) had revealed a universe which
seemed like a perfectly run machine,
comprehensible by the human mind and the
enlightened scientific understanding it had
now gained.

Let’s test your knowledge!

Galileo and Isaac Newton promoted the idea
that knowledge should be based on

a. The experiences of past civilizations

b. Experimentation and observation

c. Emotions and feelings

d. The teachings of the Catholic Church

 During the Scientific Revolution and the
Enlightenment, one similarity in the work of many
scientists and philosophers was that they

a. Relied heavily on the ideas of medieval thinkers

b. Favored an absolute monarchy as a way of

improving economic conditions
c. Received support from the Catholic Church

d. Examined natural laws governing the universe

Which statement best describes the effects of the
works of Copernicus, Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton,
and Descartes?
a. The acceptance of traditional authority was
strengthened
b. The scientific method was used to solve
problems.
c. The English government increased funding for
education
d. Interest in Greek and Roman drama was
renewed.
Close - Answer the following:
1. How did the Scientific Revolution Change the way
people thought about the world?

2. Martin Luther applied the questioning spirit of the

Renaissance to religion. Galileo and Newton applied
the questioning spirit of the Renaissance to science.
Predict what else people might begin to question in the
years following the Renaissance. Explain how this
might impact Europe.