Factors that Changed the World View of Europeans

SSWH13 The student will examine the intellectual, political, social, and economic

factors that changed the world view of Europeans.

a. Explain the scientific contributions of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton and how these ideas changed the European world

view.

Background to the Scientific Revolution • Medieval scientists did not make

observations of the natural world. • These scientists relied on a few

ancient authorities such as Aristotle for their scientific knowledge.

• Rediscovery of ancient mathematicians challenged the ideas of previous generations.

• New inventions such as the telescope and microscope made fresh scientific discoveries possible.

• The Printing press above all allowed ideas to spread quickly & easily.

A Revolution in Astronomy• Ptolemaic system is called

geocentric and places the Earth at the center of the universe.

• May 1543, Nicholas Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres arguing that the Sun, not Earth, was at the center of the universe.

• Also declared the Earth rotated on its axis & the Earth around the Sun each year.

Nicholas Copernicus

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

• German Mathematician• Used detailed astronomical data

to arrive at his laws of planetary motion.

• Confirmed that the Sun was at the center of the universe & showed that the orbits of the planets were not circular, but elliptical.

• Completely contradicted the Ptolemaic System.

Johannes Kepler

Galileo Galilei • The scientists now wanted to know, what

are the planets made of. • An Italian scientist & math teacher

answered this question. • First European to make observations of the

heavens using a telescope and discovered mountains on the Moon, 4 moons revolving around Jupiter among other things…

• Published The Starry Messenger in 1610 stating that the planets were made of material substance, just as Earth, not as pure orbs of light as they were viewed in the Ptolemaic conception.

Galileo

Opposition to Galileo • Galileo’s discoveries made more

Europeans aware of the new view of the universe

• The Church ordered Galileo to abandon the Copernican idea.

• Threatened the church’s concept of the universe & seemed to contradict the Bible

• Most astronomers accepted the heliocentric conception despite the church’s position, but the ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo were yet to be tied together…

Isaac Newton • Born in 1642; considered the greatest

genius of the Scientific Revolution• Defined three laws of motion in his major

work Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, also known as Principia.

• Universal law of gravitation- every object is attracted to every other object by gravity

• Created a new picture of the universe as a world-machine that worked according to natural laws

• Dominated the world view until the 20th century

Isaac Newton

How did the ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton

change European’s view of the world?

What impact would these men have on future

scientific discoveries?