SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
BUSOLA MOMOH 5TH PERIOD
WHAT WAS THE CHANGE ?
In the mid-1500s, scientists began to question accepted beliefs and make new theories based on experimentation.Before 1500, scholars generally referred to ancient Greek or roman authors or the bible to decide what was true or false.
During the middle ages, most scholars believed that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe.Common sense seemed to support this view.The earth-centered view of the universe is called the geocentric theory.The idea from the Greek philosopher of the forth century,Aristotle.People believed this theory because Christianity taught that God had deliberately placed the earth at the center of the universe.
Beginning in the mid-1500s, a few scholars published works that challenged the ideas of the ancient thinkers and the church.They launched a change in European thought that historians call the Scientific Revolution.This was a new way of thinking about the natural world.
WHO WERE THE PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHANGE ?
NICOLAUS COPERNICUS
A polish cleric and astronomer. In the early 1500s, Copernicus became interested in an old Greek idea that the sun stood at the center of the universe. After studying planetary movements for more than 25 years, he reasoned that indeed, the stars , the earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. Copernicus's theory, the Heliocentric theory still did not completely explain why the planets orbited the way they did. He also knew that most scholars would reject his theory because it contradicted their religious views. Fearing ridicule and persecution, he did not publish his findings until 1543,the last year of his life.
JOHANNES KEPLER
A brilliant mathematician who continued the works of a Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe. After studying Brahe's data, Kepler concluded that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion. Kepler's laws showed that Copernicus's basic ideas were true. They demonstrated mathematically that the planets revolve around the earth.
GALILEO GALILEI
An Italian scientist who built on the new theories about astronomy. He built his own telescope and used it to study the heavens in 1609. In 1610,he published a small book called "Starry Messenger" which described his astonishing observations. His findings frightened both the catholic and protestant leaders because he went against church teachings and authorities. Galileo then published "Dialogue Concerning The Two Chief World Systems" which presented the ideas of both Copernicus and Ptolemy. The pope angrily summoned him to Rome to stand trial before the Inquisition. he stood before the court in 1633. After that, Galileo was never again a free man. he lived under house arrest and died in 1642 at his villa in Florence. However, his books and ideas still spread all over Europe and in 1992 the catholic church officially acknowledged that Galileo had been right.
SIR ISAAC NEWTON
A great English scientist who helped to bring together the breakthroughs of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo under a single theory of motion. Newton's great discovery was that the same force that ruled the motion of the planets and all matter on earth and in space. In 1687, Newton published his ideas in a work called "The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy. It was one of the most important scientific books ever written.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
This was the logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas. Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo contributed to the scientific method.
The scientific method is now used worldwide by scientists and it is also taught in schools.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES OF THE REVOLUTION
MICROSCOPE
The first microscope was invented by a Dutch maker of eyeglasses, Zacharias Janssen, in 1590.
THERMOMETER
In 1714, the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit made the first thermometer to use mercury in glass. Fahrenheit's thermometer showed water freezing at 32 degrees.
MERCURY BAROMETER
In 1643, one of Galileo's students, Evangelista Torricelli, developed the first mercury barometer, a tool for measuring atmospheric pressure and predicting weather.
HOW DID THE CHANGE IMPACT SOCIETY AT THE TIME ?
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION...
Spurred so many breakthrough in science. Philosophers and scholars across Europe began to rethink long held beliefs about the human condition.