Scientific Revolution
By The Lovely Kim Tran
Nicolaus Copernicus
Galileo and his invention of the telescope
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/photogalleries/galileos-telescope-pictures-anniversary/
- Picture of Galileo looking through his telescope in 1620
Johannes Kepler
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Johannes_Kepler_1610.jpg
- Picture of Johannes Kepler in 1610
What was the change?
It was the change in the way people thought about the physical universe. In the 16th century, people believed whatever the church or bible stated. Europeans highly looked up to the church at this time. People were enthusiastic by these new discoveries, meanwhile the others feared of what they did not know and how it could impact their role in society. The revolution was a negative change to the king, because they feared that people started to digest more information about the physical world, and how the king and church gave out false information about the world to them. They feared Europeans might overthrow the church and king from power. This lead to another schism. It was between the people who still wanted to worship the church and people who forgot about the church and became interested in the new discoveries. New discoveries like the Heliocentric Model. Before the 16th century came, people believed in the Geocentric Model. It is where Earth is in the center of the universe and all planets, even the sun, revolve around Earth. People believed in this model anyway because they did not had much scientific proof. Copernicus came around and developed the Heliocentric Model, which states that every planet revolves around the sun. He discovered this by realizing that all planets have the same yearly movement. His hypothesis that all planets revolve around the sun which gives off daylight and heat which made it more reasonable that the sun is actually in the middle. The Heliocentric Model's process of getting "popular" was very slow, due to Copernicus not publishing his work. He did not published it because it angered the religious leaders. But since the 1500's, the idea existed still today and is wildly popular. Another type of way it changed, was the belief in the shape planets orbit around the Sun. People believed that planets revolve around the Sun in a circular motion. This statement was false because Jupiter and other bodies have small impacts to each planet, causing planets to revolve in an oval shape. Kepler found out that the planets revolved around the sun in an oval shape which is called "elliptical orbit." It is still accurate today. Galileo changed the way we see outer space. He improved on the telescope to view outer space with scrutiny. He improved the telescope by grinding his own lenses, changing his arrays, and invented an improved type of lense for a telescope. With his telescope, he examined the sun's spot, the moons surface and Jupiter's moon. He found out that Saturn has a ring and Jupiter has 4 moons with his brawny telescope. All in all, the change not only impact science but the church also.
Who were the people associated with the change?
Nicolaus Copernicus was associated with the change, by introducing the modern view that the planets orbit around the sun. He studied the geocentric model for 30 years, and finally came up with an accurate model which is the "Heliocentric Model." Johannes Kepler helped prove that the heliocentric model was accurate. He found the truth by examinations and math. Kepler also proposed 3 laws on the planetary motion. The 3 laws states that all planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun, planets moves quicker when it approaches the sun, and the time it takes a planet to orbit the sun corresponds to its distance around the sun. Galileo Galilei was also a part of this change. He was a math professor. He discovered objects accelerate at a fixed rate, heavy objects fall at the same time, and he upgraded the telescope. He discovered that objects accelerate at a fixed rate by rolling 2 different balls with different mass on a incline plane while timing them. He then found out mass has nothing to do with how quickly it accelerates. Its just gravity doing its job. Also, because of his updated telescope, the heliocentric model was precisely accurate. He proved the heliocentric model was correct by looking through his powerful telescope and discovered that Earth is not actually in the middle. Sir Isaac Newton was also related with this change. He submitted the Law of Universal Gravitation. The law states that every object in the universe attracts another object no matter what. The attraction is inevitable. The attraction in objects are not as strong because of how small our mass is. Basically the more mass you have, the stronger the attraction is. He found this law out by sitting under a tree, and an apple fell on his head and he wondered why the apple fell. He soon found out the apple corresponds with the tree and Earth by a force of attraction (Gravity). Which leads to the Law of Universal Gravitation! Overall, these people contributed to the change by determination, endurance and thinking outside of the box. Without these people, we would never know why things fall, how planets revolve around the sun, or what is in the center.
How did the change impact society at the time?
The Scientific Revolution made advances in technology. The technologies were mostly helpful to the merchant class. Examples of helpful technology like receipt paper, refillable gift cards, and currency. Extra money was building up. Wealth began and increased tax revenues. The more tax lead to an astonishing quality of life for many Europeans. But on the downfall, these scientific discoveries made Europeans seem like they're contradicting the bible. Contradicting the bible by believing in the stuff that Jesus had never even mention. When that happened, another schism was introduced. It was between the belief of Science and the religious belief. On the bright side, the Scientific Method was established. The Scientific Method is when a person tests their hypothesis to see if it is correct or not. It is still used today! This method helped many Europeans to discover more about this spectacular world. It helped them discover Astronomy, Biology, and Physics by proving that they uncovered to be accurate.
How is that change evident in today's modern society?
The Scientific Revolution was a time where we found out how our world was runned. Without it, we would still believe that the Earth is the center of our universe or the planets orbits in a circular motion. Newton's laws helps everyone to comprehend how our world works. Many medicines has been improved by a man named William Harvey. Thanks to him, he discovered that blood is pumped around the body by our heart. Because of him, life expectancy is higher then ever. People are actually living above 40 years of age. Also, because of Copernicus's, Kepler's, and Galileo's discoveries, we are able to walk on the moon, look in deeper in the solar system, and improve on their inventions. For example, without Galileo's invention of the telescope, we would not know where the moon is. Obviously the moon is in the sky, but he actually goes further in depth, actually calculating where it is. In addition, people are learning what is the temperature in each planet, its height, its weight, and much more. For example, Saturn's mass is 95.16, its temperature is -270 degrees Fahrenheit and currently the second largest planet. The whole world would not know these types of things, if it weren't for these intelligent scientists. This revolution has only brought this modern day a lot more advanced.