The Scientific Revolution,

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Reynold Miller
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The Scientific Revolution, 1500-1800 1800 SC/STS 3760 (6.

Office: Room 218, Norman Bethune College Telephone: 416-736 736-2100, ext. 20559 Email: bwall@yorku.

1 The Scientific Revolution, SC/STS 3760 (6.00) York University Faculty of Science and Engineering Science & Technology Studies Program Course Director: Professor Byron Wall Office: Room 218, Norman Bethune College Telephone: , ext Website: 2 Course website: Consult the website for general information, special announcements, lecture notes, schedule of assignments, supplementary materials, interim marks, etc. 3

2 The Scientific Revolution, This course is about the remarkable development of scientific ideas that occurred in the 16 th, 17 th, and to a lesser extent in the 18 th centuries. A Revolution: the cosmos Prior to the scientific revolution the accepted view of the world was that the Earth was in the centre of the universe and was immobile while all of the heavens, including the stars and the planets revolved around the Earth daily. After the scientific revolution, the Earth was seen as a planet circling the Sun. 5 A Revolution: authority Prior to the scientific revolution the authority for determining knowledge about the world was either the philosophers, Aristotle in particular, or at least the followers of Aristotle ( Aristotelians( Aristotelians ) ) or it was religious leaders. After the scientific revolution, at least in Europe, science became the final authority for explaining Nature. 6

3 A Revolution: humanity Prior to the scientific revolution human beings were regarded as having a special place in creation, lower than the angels, but higher, and totally different, from all other life. Humanity had a special role as caretakers of God s s creation, and life on Earth was a proving ground for a more important existence that came afterward. After the scientific revolution, the process was started (but not carried through until after Darwin) of seeing human beings as merely one of the many species of Nature and not necessarily different in kind from the rest of creation. 7 The Major Characters Copernicus Defying common sense, characterized the Earth as in orbit around the Sun. Tycho Brahe Set a new standard in precise data that scientific models must account for. Johannes Kepler Found a compact mathematical formula to describe planetary motions. Galileo (a) Sold the Copernican system to the general public, and (b) Provided a methodology for establishing scientific theories. René Descartes Provided the basis for a thorough going mechanistic model and mathematical tools to describe it. Isaac Newton Created the grand synthesis of the new science, which effectively displaced Aristotle. 8 Other notables: Biology & Medicine Andreaus Vesalius Revived anatomy with an illustrated textbook. Paracelsus Overthrew the authority of ancient medical treatises in favour of a fresh approach to fighting specific diseases. William Harvey Discovered the function of the heart and the circulation of the blood. Marcello Malpighi Examined the development of life before birth (embryology) 9

4 Other notables: Matter and Mystery Robert Boyle Provided a mechanist basis for chemistry. William Gilbert Explored attractive forces, such as magnets. Robert Hooke Clarified the idea of a scientific experiment. Anton van Leeuwenhoek Discovered tiny forms of life with his microscope. 10 Communications Francis Bacon Became the spokesperson for the new philosophy (of observation). Marin de Mersenne Served as a communication network with his extensive correspondence with scientific minds all across Europe. The Royal Society of London Became the model for a scientific society where people shared and discussed new ideas about Nature. 11 The plan of this course In the fall term and perhaps into the beginning of the winter term, we will examine the life and work of some of the major figures in the scientific revolution in order to gain a good overview of the main developments that made the revolution. revolution. In the winter term, we will re-examine examine these works and people and also a good number of the lesser players with a more critical eye toward understanding what happened and why. 12

5 The texts in use (1) The books that we will study and discuss in class in roughly the order taken up are: Thomas Kuhn, The Copernican Revolution a study of the transformation of astronomy from the ancient world view of an Earth-centered universe to the Sun-centered concept of Copernicus. First the ancient viewpoint, then the corrections proposed by Copernicus, and finally, the transformation of understanding brought about by the general acceptance of the implications of Copernicus work. 13 The texts in use (2) Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers. The subject matter of Koestler s s book is essentially the same as Kuhn s s text, namely the Copernican Revolution, but Koestler s emphasis is on Johannes Kepler rather than Copernicus. The main part of the book is a fascinating biographical study of this extraordinary character from the scientific revolution. 14 The texts in use (3) Galileo, Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo, translated and edited by Stillman Drake. This work collects together some of the important minor writings of Galileo, such as The Starry Messenger, Letters on Sunspots, The Assayer, and The Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina, which got Galileo into trouble with the Church. About half of this book is Drake s s commentary on each of the components. This provides an excellent introduction to this critical character in the history of science. 15

6 The texts in use (4) Byron Wall, Glimpses of Reality: Episodes in the History of Science. This is my own survey text in the history of science. I will assign selected chapters from this work to fill in gaps that are not covered in the other textbooks. You do not need to buy this text (though you certainly may!). There are several copies in the Steacie Science Library and I will make the assigned readings available on line through the course website. 16 The texts in use (5) James Gleick, Isaac Newton.. Isaac Newton is the most important single person in the Scientific Revolution, so we should learn a fair bit about him and his work. Gleick s work is a biography of Newton with a fair emphasis on Newton s s actual scientific work. We will go through it carefully and discuss it in class. 17 The texts in use (6) John Henry, The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modern Science. This fairly short book is one man s s view of the whole of the scientific revolution and how it did what it did. It gives one person s s view of how it all came together and what is important and what not in his considered opinion. It will help us see the whole period as a unit. 18

7 The texts in use (7) Margaret J. Osler, ed., Rethinking the Scientific Revolution. This is another work that looks at the period of the scientific revolution and re- evaluates it from the point of view of historians. However, this is an edited work. Every chapter is by a different author, so we will get a wide variety of opinion to consider and debate. 19

The Scientific Revolution Learning Target

The Scientific Revolution Learning Target Explain how new discoveries in astronomy changed the way people viewed the universe. Understand the new scientific method and how it developed. Analyze the contributions