Scientific Revolution

Scientific Revolution

Definition:

• new way of thinking about the natural world based on careful observation and a willingness to question

Scientific Revolution

Influences:

• Renaissance inspired new curiosity

• Exploration broaden European horizons

• Scientific discoveries challenge excepted thinking

• Printing press spread ideas

Nicolaus Copernicus

Contribution:

• Wrote: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

Nicolaus Copernicus

Old View:

• believed the earth was the center of the universe (geocentric)

New View:

• theorized that the sun was the center and the earth rotated around it (heliocentric)

Johannes Kepler

Contribution:

• gave three fundamental laws of planetary motion

Johannes Kepler

Old View:

• planetary orbits are circular with the sun sitting in the center

New View:

• planetary orbits rotated following an elliptical course (egg-shaped) with the sun sitting towards the end of the ellipse

Galileo Galilee

Contribution:

• first known scientist to regularly observe the universe using a telescope

Galileo Galilei

Old View:

• Moon was a pure substance

New View:

• Moon had a rough surface, supported Copernicus ideas

Sir Isaac Newton

Contribution:

• Wrote: The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

Sir Isaac Newton

Old View:

• a divine spirit present in all the material things that allowed for movement (hermetic theory)

New View:

• gravity is the reason for planetary motion

• everything worked together in order like pieces to a clock and God was at the center of it that set everything in motion like a clock maker

Other Contributions

Scientific Method:

• “I think therefore I am” Rene Descartes

• French intellectual who challenged traditional ideas

• said that human reason was capable of discovering and explaining the laws of nature and man

• accepted nothing as true unless it was proved

Enlightenment

Enlightenment

• a period which produced new ideas about government

• Newton discovered natural laws governing the universe

• many believed there were natural laws governing politics, economics, and other aspects of society as well

John Locke

• Writings: “Second Treatise on Government”

• In a natural state all people are equal and independent, and none have a right to harm another’s “life, health, liberty, or possessions.”

John Locke: Ideas

• knowledge and worldview comes from one’s environment and experiences

• reason above simple faith

• people could be changed by altering their surroundings

John Locke: Ideas

• challenged the old view that monarchs possess a God-given right to rule

• people were born with natural rights that included life, liberty, and property

• For the good of society, people give up certain freedoms and empower governments to maintain order

• citizens have the right to replace any government that fails to serve the public good

John Locke: Impact

• fundamental to US Declaration of Independence

• influenced Thomas Jefferson, “life, liberty and the pursuit of hapiness”

Voltaire

• Writings: “On Intolerance”

• “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

• “I may not like what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

Voltaire: Ideas

• known for his criticism of Christianity

• belief in religious toleration

• championed deism (an eighteenth-century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law)

– Deists believe the world is like a clock that God created and set according to his natural laws, and then let run without his intervention

Voltaire: Impact

• guaranteed in US Bill of Rights and French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

• European Monarchs reduce persecution

Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Writing: “The Social Contract”

• “No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau: Ideas

• argued that the general will of the people acted as a “social contract”

• Everyone, citizens and the government, should abide by this agreement

• In other words, the government should reflect the will of the people

Jean Jacques Rousseau: Impact

• inspired many of the leaders of the French Revolution who overthrew the monarchy in 1789

• influenced socialism, and nationalism

Effects of the Enlightenment

• a growing belief in progress

• a more secular outlook

• the growing importance of the individual

• a period of Revolutions