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The Scientific Revolution

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY In Such questioning led to the • geocentric • heliocentric theory
the mid-1500s, scientists began development of the scientific theory • Galileo Galilei
to question accepted beliefs and method still in use today. • Scientific • scientific method
make new theories based on Revolution • Isaac Newton
experimentation.

SETTING THE STAGE As you recall, the period between 1300 and 1600 was
a time of great change in Europe. The Renaissance, a rebirth of learning and the
arts, inspired a spirit of curiosity in many fields. Scholars began to question ideas
that had been accepted for hundreds of years. Meanwhile, the religious move-
ment known as the Reformation prompted followers to challenge accepted ways
of thinking about God and salvation. While the Reformation was taking place,
another revolution in European thought had begun, one that would permanently
change how people viewed the physical world.

The Roots of Modern Science TAKING NOTES

Analyzing Causes Use a
Before 1500, scholars generally decided what was true or false by referring to an diagram to list the events
ancient Greek or Roman author or to the Bible. Few European scholars chal- and circumstances that led
lenged the scientific ideas of the ancient thinkers or the church by carefully to the Scientific Revolution.
observing nature for themselves.
The Medieval View During the Middle Ages, most scholars believed that the
earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe. According
to that belief, the moon, the sun, and the planets all moved in perfectly circular Causes of the
Scientific Revolution
paths around the earth. Common sense seemed to support this view. After all, the
sun appeared to be moving around the earth as it rose in the morning and set in
the evening.
This earth-centered view of the universe was called the geocentric theory.
The idea came from Aristotle, the Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C.
The Greek astronomer Ptolemy (TOL•a•mee) expanded the theory in the second
century A.D. In addition, Christianity taught that God had deliberately placed the
earth at the center of the universe. Earth was thus a special place on which the
great drama of life unfolded.
A New Way of Thinking Beginning in the mid-1500s, a few scholars published
works that challenged the ideas of the ancient thinkers and the church. As these
scholars replaced old assumptions with new theories, they launched a change in
European thought that historians call the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific
Revolution was a new way of thinking about the natural world. That way was
based upon careful observation and a willingness to question accepted beliefs.

Enlightenment and Revolution 189

 A combination of discoveries and circumstances led to the Scientific Revolution
and helped spread its impact. During the Renaissance, European explorers traveled
to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Such lands were inhabited by peoples and ani-
mals previously unknown in Europe. These discoveries opened Europeans to the
possibility that there were new truths to be found. The invention of the printing
press during this period helped spread challenging ideas—both old and new—
more widely among Europe’s thinkers.
The age of European exploration also fueled a great deal of scientific research,
especially in astronomy and mathematics. Navigators needed better instruments
and geographic measurements, for example, to determine their location in the open
sea. As scientists began to look more closely at the world around them, they made
observations that did not match the ancient beliefs. They found they had reached
the limit of the classical world’s knowledge. Yet, they still needed to know more.

A Revolutionary Model of the Universe

An early challenge to accepted scientific thinking came in the field of astronomy.
It started when a small group of scholars began to question the geocentric theory.
The Heliocentric Theory Although backed by authority and common sense, the
geocentric theory did not accurately explain the movements of the sun, moon, and
planets. This problem troubled a Polish cleric and astronomer named Nicolaus
Copernicus (koh•PUR•nuh•kuhs). 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, Copernicus
reasoned that indeed, the stars, the
earth, and the other planets revolved
around the sun.
Copernicus’s heliocentric, or sun-
centered, theory still did not com-
pletely explain why the planets
Venus Earth the stars orbited the way they did. He also
Saturn Mars Sun Mercury Jupiter
knew that most scholars and clergy
would reject his theory because it
▲ This model
contradicted their religious views.
shows how
Fearing ridicule or persecution, Copernicus did not publish his findings until 1543,
Copernicus saw the
planets revolving the last year of his life. He received a copy of his book, On the Revolutions of the
around the sun. Heavenly Bodies, on his deathbed.
While revolutionary, Copernicus’s book caused little stir at first. Over the next
century and a half, other scientists built on the foundations he had laid. A Danish
astronomer, Tycho Brahe (TEE•koh brah), carefully recorded the movements of
the planets for many years. Brahe produced mountains of accurate data based on
his observations. However, it was left to his followers to make mathematical
sense of them.
After Brahe’s death in 1601, his assistant, a brilliant mathematician named
Johannes Kepler, continued his work. After studying Brahe’s data, Kepler concluded Recognizing
that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion. One of these laws showed Effects
How did
that the planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits instead of circles, as was Kepler’s findings
previously thought. Kepler’s laws showed that Copernicus’s basic ideas were true. support the helio-
They demonstrated mathematically that the planets revolve around the sun. centric theory?

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 Galileo’s Discoveries An Italian scientist named Galileo Galilei built on the new
theories about astronomy. As a young man, Galileo learned that a Dutch lens maker
had built an instrument that could enlarge far-off objects. Galileo built his own
telescope and used it to study the heavens in 1609.
Then, in 1610, he published a small book called Starry Messenger, which
described his astonishing observations. Galileo announced that Jupiter had four
moons and that the sun had dark spots. He also noted that the earth’s moon had a
rough, uneven surface. This shattered Aristotle’s theory that the moon and stars
were made of a pure, perfect substance. Galileo’s observations, as well as his laws
of motion, also clearly supported the theories of Copernicus.
Conflict with the Church Galileo’s findings frightened both Catholic and Protes-
tant leaders because they went against church teaching and authority. If people
believed the church could be wrong about this, they could question other church
teachings as well.
In 1616, the Catholic Church warned Galileo not to defend the ideas of
Copernicus. Although Galileo remained publicly silent, he continued his studies.
Then, in 1632, he published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.
This book presented the ideas of both Copernicus and Ptolemy, but it clearly
showed that Galileo supported the Copernican theory. The pope angrily summoned
Galileo to Rome to stand trial before the Inquisition.
Galileo stood before the court in 1633. Under the threat of torture, he knelt
before the cardinals and read aloud a signed confession. In it, he agreed that the
ideas of Copernicus were false.

PRIMARY SOURCE
Analyzing With sincere heart and unpretended
Primary Sources faith I abjure, curse, and detest the
In what two aforesaid errors and heresies [of
ways does Galileo Copernicus] and also every other error
seek to appease . . . contrary to the Holy Church, and I
the Church? swear that in the future I will never
again say or assert . . . anything that
might cause a similar suspicion
toward me.
GALILEO GALILEI, quoted in
The Discoverers

Galileo was never again a free

man. He lived under house arrest and
died in 1642 at his villa near Florence.
However, his books and ideas still
spread all over Europe. (In 1992, the
▲ Galileo stands
Catholic Church officially acknowl-
before the papal
edged that Galileo had been right.) court.

The Scientific Method

The revolution in scientific thinking that Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo began
eventually developed into a new approach to science called the scientific method.
The scientific method is a logical procedure for gathering and testing ideas. It begins
with a problem or question arising from an observation. Scientists next form a
hypothesis, or unproved assumption. The hypothesis is then tested in an experiment
or on the basis of data. In the final step, scientists analyze and interpret their data to
reach a new conclusion. That conclusion either confirms or disproves the hypothesis.
Enlightenment and Revolution 191
 1566 Marie de Coste 1609 Kepler 1610 Galileo
Blanche publishes The publishes first two publishes
Nature of the Sun and Earth. laws of planetary Starry
motion. Messenger.

1520 1570 1620

1543 Copernicus publishes 1590 Janssen 1620 Bacon’s book

heliocentric theory. invents Novum Organum (New
Vesalius publishes human microscope. Instrument) encourages
anatomy textbook. experimental method.

▲ Nicolaus
Copernicus began Bacon and Descartes The scientific method did not develop overnight. The work
the Scientific of two important thinkers of the 1600s, Francis Bacon and René Descartes
Revolution with his (day•KAHRT), helped to advance the new approach.
heliocentric theory.
Francis Bacon, an English statesman and writer, had a passionate interest in
science. He believed that by better understanding the world, scientists would gen-
erate practical knowledge that would improve people’s lives. In his writings, Bacon
attacked medieval scholars for relying too heavily on the conclusions of Aris-
totle and other ancient thinkers. Instead of reasoning from abstract theories, he
urged scientists to experiment and then draw conclusions. This approach is called
empiricism, or the experimental method.
In France, René Descartes also took a keen interest in science. He developed
analytical geometry, which linked algebra and geometry. This provided an impor-
tant new tool for scientific research.
Like Bacon, Descartes believed that scientists needed to reject old assumptions
and teachings. As a mathematician, however, he approached gaining knowledge dif-
ferently than Bacon. Rather than using experimentation, Descartes relied on mathe-
matics and logic. He believed that everything should be doubted until proved by
reason. The only thing he knew for certain was that he existed—because, as he
wrote, “I think, therefore I am.” From this starting point, he followed a train of strict Contrasting
reasoning to arrive at other basic truths. How did
Modern scientific methods are based on the ideas of Bacon and Descartes. Descartes’s
approach to science
Scientists have shown that observation and experimentation, together with general
differ from Bacon’s?
laws that can be expressed mathematically, can lead people to a better understanding
of the natural world.

Newton Explains the Law of Gravity

By the mid-1600s, the accomplishments of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo had shat-
tered the old views of astronomy and physics. Later, the great English scientist Isaac
Newton helped to bring together their breakthroughs under a single theory of motion.

Changing Idea: Scientific Method

Old Science New Science
Scholars generally relied on ancient In time, scholars began to use observation,
authorities, church teachings, common experimentation, and scientific reasoning to
sense, and reasoning to explain the gather knowledge and draw conclusions
physical world. about the physical world.

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 1637 Descartes’s 1662 Boyle discovers mathematical
book Discourse on relationship between the pressure and 1714
1628 Harvey Method sets forth volume of gases, known as Boyle’s law. Fahrenheit
reveals how his scientific method invents
human heart of reasoning from 1674 Leeuwenhoek observes mercury
functions. the basis of doubt. bacteria through microscope. thermometer.

1620 1670 1720

1633 Galileo 1643 1666 France establishes 1687 Newton

faces Inquisition Torricelli Academy of Sciences. publishes law
for support of invents of gravity.
Copernicus’s barometer. 1660 England establishes Royal
theory. Society to support scientific study.

▲ Isaac Newton’s
Newton studied mathematics and physics at Cambridge University. By the time law of gravity
he was 26, Newton was certain that all physical objects were affected equally by the explained how the
same forces. Newton’s great discovery was that the same force ruled motion of the same physical laws
governed motion
planets and all matter on earth and in space. The key idea that linked motion in the
both on earth and
heavens with motion on the earth was the law of universal gravitation. According in the heavens.
to this law, every object in the universe attracts every other object. The degree of
attraction depends on the mass of the objects and the distance between them.
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 universe he described was like a giant clock. Its parts all worked
Clarifying
together perfectly in ways that could be expressed mathematically. Newton
Why was the
law of gravitation believed that God was the creator of this orderly universe, the clockmaker who had
important? set everything in motion.

The Scientific Revolution Spreads

As astronomers explored the secrets of the universe, other scientists began to study
the secrets of nature on earth. Careful observation and the use of the scientific
method eventually became important in many different fields.
Scientific Instruments Scientists developed new tools and instruments to make
the precise observations that the scientific method demanded. The first microscope
was invented by a Dutch maker of eyeglasses, Zacharias Janssen (YAHN•suhn),
in 1590. In the 1670s, a Dutch drapery merchant and amateur scientist named
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (LAY•vuhn•HUK) used a microscope to observe bacteria
swimming in tooth scrapings. He also examined red blood cells for the first time.
In 1643, one of Galileo’s students, Evangelista Torricelli (TAWR•uh•CHEHL•ee),
developed the first mercury barometer, a tool for measuring atmospheric pressure
and predicting weather. In 1714, the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit
(FAR•uhn•HYT) made the first thermometer to use mercury in glass. Fahrenheit’s
thermometer showed water freezing at 32°. A Swedish astronomer, Anders Celsius
(SEHL•see•uhs), created another scale for the mercury thermometer in 1742.
Celsius’s scale showed freezing at 0°.
Medicine and the Human Body During the Middle Ages, European doctors had
accepted as fact the writings of an ancient Greek physician named Galen. However,
Galen had never dissected the body of a human being. Instead, he had studied the
anatomy of pigs and other animals. Galen assumed that human anatomy was much
the same. A Flemish physician named Andreas Vesalius proved Galen’s assumptions
wrong. Vesalius dissected human corpses and published his observations. His
Enlightenment and Revolution 193
 book, On the Structure of the Human Body
(1543), was filled with detailed drawings of
human organs, bones, and muscle.
In the late 1700s, British physician
Edward Jenner introduced a vaccine to pre- Vocabulary
vent smallpox. Inoculation using live small- Inoculation is the
pox germs had been practiced in Asia for act of injecting a
germ into a per-
centuries. While beneficial, this technique
son’s body so as to
could also be dangerous. Jenner discovered create an immunity
that inoculation with germs from a cattle dis- to the disease.
ease called cowpox gave permanent protec-
tion from smallpox for humans. Because
cowpox was a much milder disease, the risks
for this form of inoculation were much
lower. Jenner used cowpox to produce the
world’s first vaccination.
Discoveries in Chemistry Robert Boyle pio-
neered the use of the scientific method in
▲ The famous
chemistry. He is considered the founder of modern chemistry. In a book called The
Dutch painter
Sceptical Chymist (1661), Boyle challenged Aristotle’s idea that the physical world
Rembrandt painted
Anatomy Lesson of consisted of four elements—earth, air, fire, and water. Instead, Boyle proposed that
Dr. Tulp in 1632 matter was made up of smaller primary particles that joined together in different ways.
from an actual Boyle’s most famous contribution to chemistry is Boyle’s law. This law explains how
anatomy lesson.
the volume, temperature, and pressure of gas affect each other.
The corpse was that
of a criminal. The notions of reason and order, which spurred so many breakthroughs in sci-
ence, soon moved into other fields of life. Philosophers and scholars across Europe
began to rethink long-held beliefs about the human condition, most notably the
rights and liberties of ordinary citizens. These thinkers helped to usher in a move-
ment that challenged the age-old relationship between a government and its peo-
ple, and eventually changed forever the political landscape in numerous societies.

SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
• geocentric theory • Scientific Revolution • heliocentric theory • Galileo Galilei • scientific method • Isaac Newton

USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING

2. Which event or circumstance 3. Before the 1500s, who and 6. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS “If I have seen farther than
do you consider to be the what were the final authorities others,” said Newton, “it is because I have stood on the
most significant? Why? with regard to most knowledge? shoulders of giants.” Could this be said of most scientific
4. How did the heliocentric theory accomplishments? Explain.
of the universe differ from the 7. ANALYZING MOTIVES Why might institutions of authority
geocentric theory? tend to reject new ideas?
Causes of the 5. What are the main steps of the 8. FORMING AND SUPPORTING OPINIONS Do you agree
Scientific Revolution scientific method? with Galileo’s actions during his Inquisition? Explain.
9. WRITING ACTIVITY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Create a
television script for a discovery of the Scientific Revolution.
Include key people, ideas, and accomplishments.

CONNECT TO TODAY CREATING A GRAPHIC

Research a modern-day invention or new way of thinking and then describe it and its impact
on society to the class in a poster or annotated diagram.

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