Scientific Revolution Historical Context: In the sixteenth century thinkers in Europe believed that there were discoverable laws in nature known as natural laws. Through the use of observation and experimentation these thinkers developed methods to analyze the laws of the natural world. This time period became known as the Scientific Revolution in Europe. ocument 1!!! The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System The Earth-centered Universe of Aristotle and tolemy held sway on [governed] Western thinking for almost 2000 years. Then, in the 16th century a new idea was proposed by the olish astronomer Nicolai Copernicus (1473 1543). The Heliocentric System In a book called On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies (that was published as Copernicus lay on his deathbed), Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the Solar System. Such a model is called a heliocentric system. The ordering of the planets known to Copernicus in this new system is illustrated in the following figure, which we recognize as the modern ordering of those planets.... Saturn Mars Moon Mercury Sun Jupiter Earth Venus Fixed Stars Source: The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System, epartment of hysics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee Source: ocument 1 of January 2011 New York State Regents Exam page 12 Scientific Revolution 1
Common Core Literacy Skills: Key Ideas and etails 1. What view of the universe was supported by Aristotle and tolemy? 2. How long did Aristotle s and tolemy s view of the universe influence Western thinking? 3. When was a new view of the universe proposed by Copernicus? 4. What was the name of the new system Copernicus proposed? 5. What year was Copernicus book published? 6. How did the Copernican model differ from the pervious western understanding of the universe. Summary: 7. rove: Copernicus challenged established traditions in the Western world. Analysis: 8. Why was his book published on his deathbed? Scientific Revolution 2
ocument 2 Historical Context: In his letter to the Grand uchess Galileo defends his approach to science. Some years ago, as Your Serene Highness well knows, I discovered in the heavens many things that had not been seen before our own age. The novelty of these things, as well as some consequences which followed from them in contradiction to the physical notions commonly held among academic philosophers, stirred up against me no small number of professors as if I had placed these things in the sky with my own hands in order to upset nature and overturn the sciences. They seemed to forget that the increase of known truths stimulates the investigation, establishment, and growth of the arts; not their diminution or destruction. Showing a greater fondness for their own opinions than for truth, they sought to deny and disprove the new things which, if they had cared to look for themselves, their own senses would have demonstrated to them. To this end they hurled various charges and published numerous writings filled with vain arguments, and they made the grave mistake of sprinkling these with passages taken from places in the Bible which they had failed to understand properly, and which were ill suited to their purposes....! Source: Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand uchess Christina (1615) Common Core Literacy Skills: Key Ideas and etails 1. Who is the author of this letter? 2. When was this letter written? 3. What was Galileo observing in the heavens? Source: ocument 2 of January 2011 New York State Regents Exam page 13 4. Who s ideas did Galileo s discoveries contradict? Term of respect Sun, moon, stars, and planets Newness, Results Opposition Teachers/Scholars Encourages Lessening Respect Made, Self-promoting/Useless Unhelpful Scientific Revolution 3
Summary: Galileo s three arguments against his critics: 5. isprove: Galileo s opponents relied on facts to support their claims. 6. isprove: Galileo s opponents relied on observation to support their claims. 7. isprove: Galileo s opponents relied on science to support their claims. 8. rove or isprove: The Catholic Church supported the ideas of Galileo s critics. Analysis: 9. rove or isprove: Galileo valued the truth over established traditions. Scientific Revolution 4
ocument 3a 1543 Copernicus presented his heliocentric model 1632 Galileo published his idea that other planets might move around the Sun 1637 René escartes published his book iscourse on Method explaining his searching for truth through reason 1687 Isaac Newton published his ideas about gravity and planetary movement using calculus Source: Global Hist. & Geo. Aug. 12 pg 10 Common Core Literacy Skills: Key Ideas and etails irection: For Questions 1-4 rove or isprove 1. Galileo reinforced the ideas of Copernicus. 2. Rene escrates published his ideas in the fifteenth century. 3. Rene escrates was influenced by the ideas in Galileo s letter to Grand uchess Christina in 1615. 4. Isaac Newton supported his ideas about gravity with data. Scientific Revolution 5
ocument 3b... At first, the discoveries of Copernicus and Galileo upset many Europeans. Over time, however, a new way of thinking about science emerged. Scientists began to observe the world around them and to develop ideas about why things happened. They did experiments to test these ideas. This new way of thinking was called the scientific method.... 7. Repeat steps 1 6. 6. State a conclusion. 1. State the problem. 5. Record and analyze data. 3. Galileo utilized the scientific method. 2. Collect information about the problem. 3. Form a hypothesis, or educated guess. 4. Experiment to test the hypothesis. Source: Guide to the Essentials of World History, rentice Hall, 1999 (adapted) Source: ocument 3 of January 2011 New York State Regents Exam page 14 Common Core Literacy Skills: Key Ideas and etails irection: For Questions 1-4 rove or isprove 1. Heliocentrism reinforced traditional thinking in Europe. 2. The scientific method relied on the teachings of the bible to support a hypothesis. Scientific Revolution 6
ocument 4... Gradually scientists came to challenge more and more what the ancients [past civilizations] taught. They came to develop new, better methods of finding out how things worked. Mathematical knowledge increased and helped them to reason. They began to think up experiments to check on their ideas in a methodical [organized] way. The scientific revolution had begun... Claim: The scientific revolution developed new ways to understand the natural world. Supportive Evidence 1) 2) 3) 1 2 3 Many men were needed to bring this about. These men came from every part of Europe. They wrote books to explain their ideas. The printing press made it possible to produce thousands of copies which found their way all over Europe. Scientists were able to learn from one another and give one another new ideas. So the Scientific Revolution was not the work of Englishmen, or Frenchmen, or Italians alone. It was the work of Europeans. And, as we have seen, even they did not do it all by themselves. The Chinese, the Indians, the ersians, and the Arabs all gave something before it came about. Today this is not hard to understand, because men and women from all over the world add to scientific knowledge and so help one another.... --Source: eter Amey, Scientific Revolution, Greenhaven ress (Adapted) Source: ocument 4 of January 2004 New York State Regents Exam page 15 Claim: Many factors contributed to the scientific revolution. Supportive Evidence Internal (European Factors) 1) Supportive Evidence External (Non-European Factors) Scientific Revolution 7
Regents Multiple Choice: Seventeenth-century scholars Galileo Galilei and René escartes faced serious challenges to their scientific theories because their ideas (1) were based on the Bible (2) contradicted traditional medieval European beliefs (3) relied only on teachings from non-christian cultures (4) were not supported by scientific investigations 1. Correct Choice: 2. efine Contradict 3. Give Two Examples of Traditional Medieval European Beliefs 2. Explain why the other choices are incorrect: # # # # 2 Global Hist. & Geo. Aug. 07 g. 5 # 20 Scientific Revolution 8
ocument Theme Example 1) Impact of the Individual Individual Impact 2) Cultural iffusion 3) Turning oint 4) Revolution 5) Technology/Science 6) Rise of the West Copernicus Galileo escrates Newton Main Ideas: Scientific Revolution 1 Copernicus sun centered theory of the universe challenged Aristotle and tolemy s 2 According to Galileo ideas should be supported by 3a and 3b The use of logic and reason to support an hypothesis is known as the 4 The ideas of the scientific revolution challenged Main Idea Heliocentrism Heliocentrism/ Scientific Method Truth through reason Gravity, Calculus to support data Earth-centered (Geocentric) theory Scientific Revolution 9