The Scientific Revolution began in the mid-1500s as thinkers began relying on careful observation and experimentation rather than accepting ancient beliefs. Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler proposed that the Sun, not Earth, was the center of the solar system, contradicting Aristotle. Galileo used a telescope to observe the heavens and proved many Aristotelian ideas wrong. His promotion of the heliocentric model led to the Inquisition sentencing him to house arrest. Isaac Newton later unified the work of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo by explaining gravity and motion mathematically. The Scientific Revolution spread ideas across Europe and launched new fields like microscopy, chemistry, and medicine.

1. Enlightenment and Revolution:
The Scientific Revolution
Ch. 22.1

2. The Roots of Modern Science
 Renaissance inspired curiosity
 This led to the Reformation
 The Reformation and the challenge to
authority, helped start the Scientific
Revolution.

3. Science: The Medieval View
 Remember the Earth-
at-the-center-of-the-
Universe theory?
 Aristotle, the greatest
scientist until the
1500’s, had supported
this idea.
 After all, it seemed
logical. The Sun
moves and we don’t.

4. A New Way of Thinking
 Scientific Revolution: Beginning in the mid 1500’s,
new scientific ideas would be based upon careful
observation.
 A willingness to question accepted beliefs
 Newfound manuscripts launched new ideas
 European exploration fueled scientific research.
 Used stars to guide ships
 Needed better instruments and geographic
measurements.
 When they started looking around, they found their
observations did not match the ancient beliefs.

5. Geocentric vs. Heliocentric
 Geo=Earth
 Helio= Sun
 Centric=Center
 Nicolaus Copernicus first started the concept.
 However, his theory could not perfectly explain why
the planets behaved the way they did.
 Johannes Kepler’s mathematic laws showed the
planets moved in elliptical patterns, not circular, like
proposed by Copernicus.

6. Aristotle vs. Galileo
 Aristotle
 Believed a pendulum
slowed down as it
approached its
resting place
 Believed heavier
objects fell faster
than smaller ones
 Earth was center of
universe
 Galileo
 Showed a pendulum
does not slow down.
Called the Law of the
Pendulum
 Showed that all
objects fall at the
same speed.
 With a homemade
telescope, monitored
the movement of the
stars to show the Sun
was the center of the
universe

7. Conflict with the Church
 Galileo was urged by the church not to pursue his
ideas about the universe
 He did anyway, in a book called Dialogue Concerning
the Two Chief World Systems
 Was threatened by the Church and forced to deny is
ideas he knew to be true
 Sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.
 Later, the Church issued an apology to Galileo, saying
they were wrong to suppress his scientific findings.
IN 1992!!!!!

8. The Scientific Method
 Find a problem
 Form a hypothesis (prediction) about
that problem
 Observe the problem through
experimentation or data collection
 See if observation proves or
disproves the hypothesis
 Repeat process many times

9. Some Revolutionaries
 Francis Bacon
 English politician and writer
 Believed science could improve people’s lives
 Criticized peoples acceptance of Aristotle’s ideas
 Rene Descartes
 Rejected old assumptions and teachings
 Accept only things learned through
observation
 Knew only one thing for certain: “I think,
therefore I am.”
 Moved on from there.

10. Isaac Newton
 Brought together the ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, and
Galileo under one unifying theory.
 The Theory of Motion
 All things are affected by a force, gravity
 That force ruled the planets, pendulum, and all
matter on Earth and Space
 Every object attracts every other object. The degree
of attraction depends on the mass of that object and
the distance between the objects.
 His book Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy, described the universe as a giant clock.
 All its parts worked together perfectly in ways that
could be described by mathematics.
 Believed God was the creator of this orderly universe,
the clockmaker who had set everything in motion

11. The Revolution Spreads
 Zacharias Jannsen:
 1st microscope
 Anton van Leeuwenhoek:
 Observed bacteria under a microscope
 Proved tiny organisms did not just
spontaneously appear, as previously thought
 Evangelista Torricelli
 1st mercury barometer
 Gabriel Fahrenheit and Anders Celsius
 The mercury thermometer, and their respective
measurements

12.  Andreas Vesalius
 Dissected cadavers to get a better
understanding of the inner human body.
 William Harvey
 The Heart and Blood Vessels
 Edward Jenner
 Vaccine for smallpox using cowpox vs. smallpox
 Robert Boyle
 The founder of modern chemistry