Lesson 8: The LEAP of Science and Technology

during the Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science during the early modern
period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology and chemistry
transformed the views of society and nature. Scientific revolution began in Europe towards the
end of the Renaissance period and continued through the late 18th century, influencing the
intellectual social movement known as the Enlightenment.

Science and Technology Development

1. Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is often cited as
marking the beginning of the scientific revolution.
2. William Gilbert (1544-1603) published books On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and
the Great Magnet the Earth in 1600, which laid the foundations of a theory of magnetism
and electricity. Gilbert provided a hyper-empirical study of magnets, magnetism, and
electricity with speculations about cosmology.
3. Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), a Danish nobleman. He is known for his accurate and
comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations. He was assisted by Johannes
Kepler, where the latter used the information to develop his own theories in Astronorny.
In November 1572, He discovered the 'Tycho's Star' or the 'Star of 1572', a dramatic
supernova believed to appear in Cassiopeia constellation which became the talk of Europe
and the great Comet of 1577. Proposed a system in which the sun and moon orbited the
earth, while the other planets orbited the sun. (Geo-Heliocentric theory or tychonic
theory). The crater Tycho on the moon is named after him, as in the crater Tycho Brahe
on Mars.
4. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) first publication in astronomy, called Cosmographic
Mystery presented a stridently Copernican worldview dedicated to drawing together
mathematical astronomy, physics, and a quasi-Pythogorean religious perspective in hope
of a new astronomy; He published the first two ofhisr three laws of planetary motion in
1609; published his Ad vitellioem paralipomena quibus astronomiae pars optica traditor
(The Optical Part of Astronomy) where he argues that light rays are rectilinear, that they
diminish in intensity by the inverse square of their distance as they travel from the light
source; Astronomia nova (New Astronomy) shows that Mars moves non-uniformly in an
elliptical path and proposes a quasi-magnetic power or virtue emanating from the sun as
partial explanation for the planetary motions; Harmonice mundi (Harmonies of the World)
presents his so-called 'Third Law' which draws attention to the relationship between the
annual periods Of the planets and their mean distances from sun.
5. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) published Novum Organum in 1620, which outlined a
new system of logic based on the process of reduction, which he offered as an
improvement over Aristotle's philosophical process of syllogism. He was a pivotal figure in
establishing the scientific method of investigation.
6. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) the famous Italian Astronomer who demonstrated that a
projectile follows a parabolic path; 1608, he invented the telescope (‘spyglass') which
employs a convex objective lens and a concave eyepiece; 1609, he constructed his first
 telescope and turns it toward the heavens and able to discover and argues there are
innumerable stars invisible to the naked eye; He discovered mountains on the Moon and
four moons circling Jupiter; later in 1610, Galileo observes the phases of Venus, which
suggested to him that waning and waxing planet must circle the Sun; discovered the
sunspots; noted that Saturn appeared to have 'handles' and troubled over what could give
rise to such an appearance; 1616, the year of the infamous Injunction against Galileo,
was warned by the Inquisition not to hold or defend the hypothesis asserted in Copernicus'
On the Revolutions, though it has been debated whether he was admonished not to 'teach
in any way' the heliocentric theory. This work was in turn placed on the Index of Prohibited
Books until corrected.
7. René Descartes (1596—1650) published his Discourse on the Method in 1637, which
helped to establish the scientific method.
8. Antoine van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) constructed powerful single lens microscopes
and made extensive observations that he published around 1660, opening up the micro-
world of biology.
9. Isaac Newton (1643—1727) built upon the work of Kepler and Galileo. He showed that
an inverse square law for gravity explained the elliptical orbits of the planets, and
advanced the law of universal gravitation; In his Principia, Newton theorized his axiomatic
three laws of motion.
10. Alexandre Koyré, in the 20th century, introduced the term "Scientific Revolution",
centering his analysis on Galileo, and the term was popularized by Butterfield in his Origins
of Modern Science.
11. John Locke is recognized founder of empiricism and proposed in An Essay Concerning
Human Understanding (1689) that the only true knowledge that could be accessible to
the human mind was that which was based on experience. He argued that the human
mind was created as a tabula rasa, a "blank tablet," upon which sensory impressions were
recorded and built up knowledge through a process of reflection.
12. Robert Boyle (1627—1691) an English chemist considered to have refined the modern
scientific method for alchemy and to have separated chemistry further from alchemy Boyle
is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders
of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method.
Although Boyle was not an original discover, he is best known for Boyle's Law, which he
presented in 1662: the law describes the inversely proportional relationship between the
absolute pressure and volume of gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed
system. He built an air pump and many new instruments were devised in this period,
which greatly aided in the expansion of scientific knowledge.
13. Refracting telescopes first appeared in the Netherlands in 1608. The spectacle makers
Hans Lippershey, Zacharias Janssen and Jacob Metius of Alkmaar contributed to its
invention.
14. Evangelista Torricelli (1607-1647) was best known for his invention of the mercury
barometer. The motivation for the invention was to improve on the suction pumps that
were used to raise water out of the mines.
Reference:

Aldea, K.I., Caronan, H. P., Candido, M.B. (2018), Science, Technology, and Society (OBE
Ready). Philippines. Books ATbp. Publishing Corp.