Scientific Revolution
Jennifer Lyons
Impact
The Scientific Revolution occurred in Europe during the 1500s and the 1600s. The European scientists started the beginning of the breakthrough from religion, it gave science a small push to the start and discover the unknown problems of the world. These scientists looked deeper into nature out of curiosity of how everything is really created. They caused people to begin to question some of the religious teachings that were from the Catholic Churches, causing their belief that God created the universe and everything in it to be challenged. This did not sit well with the Church. Our universe was just considered to be a mystery, therefore the only thing to believe in were the religious teachings. However, once scientists started getting involved, questions were answered - allowing for people to see a more logical side of how the universe was created and how it is organized.
Heliocentric Theory
This is a picture of Copernicus's theory that the Sun is the center of the solar system instead of the Earth. It was called the heliocentric theory.
People Associated
There were many key people who had lots of influence during the Scientific Revolution. These people include, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Rene Descartes. The first people to start to question the Churches teachings were Galileo Galilei (1564-1652) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). Galileo's main focus was in the field of Physics, he discovered the law of the pendulum by watching a chandelier swing in the cathedral. Galileo was especially disliked by the church because he supported Copernicus in his theories that the sun was the center of the solar system and not the Earth, which was opposite of what the Church believed. Johannes Kepler was known for his law of planetary motion. He also questioned the teachings of Aristotle. Rene Descartes improved mathematics and philosophy and worked on combining algebra and geometry.
Galileo Galilei
He constructed his own telescope when he was trying to confirm the Heliocentric Theory. He saw that the moon was littered with craters, valleys, and mountains just like the Earth. He was also placed on house arrest for humiliating the Pope by mocking him.
Isaac Newton
Newton established his three laws of motion and also improved on Galileo Galilei's and Copernicus' theories.
NIcolais Copernicus
He created the Heliocentric model of the universe. His theories showed that the sun was the center of the universe and how the orbitals rotated in circular paths.
Impact On Society at the Time
The findings that took place during the scientific revolution had a great impact on the religious society and the educational society at the time. Because the Church was the foundational layout for the communities everyday life, people were forced to believe what ever the Church believed in- until this was challenged by the scientists and philosophers. People were curious as to what these scientists believed in so therefore straying the curious citizens from the Churches rule. This did not settle well with the Catholic Church, creating much tension between them and the scientists. Because the Church was angry that people were trying to prove them wrong, they went so far as to place Galileo Galilei under house arrest for the rest of his life and making him sign a confession that he was wrong and that the Church was right.
Impact on Modern Society
Modern society was greatly impacted my the discoveries that were made in the scientific revolution. Currently education is based off of these theories that were discovered during the Scientific Revolution. If not for the scientific revolution our education system would still controlled by the beliefs of the Catholic Church if they were still in power. Also, because of Isaac Newton's establishment of the three law of motion and his advancements of our math, we would have not been able to make any of the technological discoveries that we have made today without his contribution to the revolution. The scientific revolution improved the basis of our knowledge in general and instead of the community following the churches beliefs blindly, we have our own choice to either still believe the Church's teachings or to look at nature from a more logical stand point and utilize the information that was discovered by these scientists to educate ourselves.