New Directions in Thought and Culture in the 16th and 17th Centuries

The Advent of Science One of the great ironies of this period is that

science wasn’t even a word (not coined until the 19th century) yet everything done in this period challenged the old world religious order

It was also not a true “revolution” in terms, as revolution implies rapid changes…the discoveries of this period were spread out over many years from mid 1500’s through the early 1700’s

The secular views of a few brave men (and it was only a few) changed the way man thought morally and religiously (Questioning God? Ugh oh!)

This chapter is really all about those men that defied the traditional norms and test and postulated earth shattering theories

Nicholas Copernicus Polish astronomer (1473-1543) Copernicus was dissatisfied with the

Ptolemaic view of the universe which stated that the earth was the center (geocentrism)…most notable error that Copernicus observed was that the planets moved in different directions in the sky, which meant that the earth could mathematically not be the center

Copernicus did not set out to name the sun as center of the universe, really he was just trying to disprove the math of Ptolemay’s observations…Conpernicus, however, delayed publishing his theories to almost near and even after his death, for fear of persecution

The SUN did not instantly become the center of the universe, but Copernicus’ observations set the stage for future argument regarding heliocentrism and the motion of planets

Brahe and Kepler Tycho Brahe (Danish

astronomer, 1546-1601) did not fully buy into Copernicus’ theories…he argued that the moon and sun revolved around the earth while the other planets revolved around the sun…despite this misgiving, Brahe’s contributions were largely geared toward the construction of instruments to assist naked eye observations of the heavens

His assistant, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was much more of a Copernican follower…he used both the age old sun center theory coupled with Brahe’s math to calculate the actual orbits of objects around the sun as “elliptical” in nature (New Astronomy, 1609)

Galileo Galilei Italian astronomer (1564-1642) Noted claim to fame for Galileo was his use of

the telescope (a Dutch innovation) to make observations about the heavens

He was also a patron philosopher and scientist, hire by the court of Tuscany (DeMedici)

Galileo, however, got himself in trouble with the church over his staunch support of Copernican theory, that the Sun was indeed the center of the “universe” and even recalculate early mathematical observations (made from the naked eye)

Galileo was condemned by the church in 1633 for supporting theories that were condemned by heresy years before (1616 against Copernican theory)…the church’s argument was of course that only the Bible could be used to make interpretations about the nature of the universe

Galileo was forced to recant his views and ended up under house arrest for the remainder of his life…his contributions however, were not destroyed and would find their way into objective thinking Protestant society where they would be enhanced by thinkers like Newton

Isaac Newton British Scientist/Mathematician (1642-1727) Author of the most revered book in all of

Mathematics and Physics Principia Mathematica

Postulated that the planets and other objects in the universe were subject to movement via mutual attraction or gravity…he only explained the principles of gravity through mathematical calculations…he had no explanation for the existence of gravity itself

Newton also supported the notion that observations must be made of phenomena and that tests/experiments must be created to prove or support theories/hypotheses

One of the reasons why Newton’s theories became more popular and less controversial than the prior innovators was that he was working in a “science” friendly environment in England

Francis Bacon British “Thinker” (1561-1626), an

“amateur scientist” The Father of Empiricism, which is

the method by experiment and observation are used to construct and support scientific theories and hypotheses

Bacon advocated that knowledge must produce results not just thoughts…that science’s practical purpose was to improve humanity

He also became an advocate for state sponsored support of scientific endeavors (his writings would become the “charter” of the Royal Society of Sciences founded in 1662)

He famously died of pneumonia contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat.

Rene Descartes French Philosopher and

Mathematician (1596-1650) Descartes is the Father of Analytical

Geometry (if you hate theorems and Planar Theory he’s your man!)

Descartes also supported the notion that deduction and rational speculation could best be used to explain the world fully…he also deduced the existence of God, postulating that God exists because He provides correctness

Descartes then divided all things into existence into 2 categories: thinking things and things occupying space

Cogito, Ergo Sum or Je Pense que Je Suis = I think, therefore, I am!

Thomas Hobbes British philosopher (1588-1679), had a dour

view about humanity as depicted in his greatest work Leviathan

The philosophy of Thomas Hobbes is perhaps the most complete materialist philosophy of the 17th century. Hobbes rejected Descartes’ theories and believes in the mortality of the soul. He rejects free will in favor of determinism, a determinism which treats freedom as being able to do what one desires.

In English, Hobbes believed people could do anything “within reason”

Hobbes advocated a strong central rule, supported by law and order that is developed with the consent and cooperation of the citizens…this was the best way to avoid chaos (anarchy)

As with previous thinkers, the nature of the government was not explained, however, absolute authority should be grounded in either a single monarch or a legislative body (Absolutism)

John Locke British philosophizer (1632-1704) Opposed to Hobbes’ idea that rulers

should be absolute in their power…instead, man’s natural state promoted freedom and equality

Famous for his 2 Treatises on government #1 rejected absolute government and

the patriarchal model #2 argued that a ruler is responsible

for his people and that if he failed, he violated the trust of his people and should be overthrown (ie. Declaration of Independence)

He also argued for religious toleration towards all faith, except Catholicism, since it swore allegiance to an earthly lord as well as a Heavenly one

Blaise Pascal French “thinker”,

mathematician, a Jacque de tous les métiers (1623-1662)

Pascal believed that faith and devine grace were more necessary for human happiness than reason or science

He saw two essential truths about life: God exists and humans are unworthy of God

In short, he was the justifier of a world where which religion was more important than science

Women and The Scientific Revolution Women naturally had been isolated

from the educated world due to the male domineering views of the age…however, some women contributed to scientific movements

Margaret Cavendish wrote about scientific instrumentation and was the only woman allowed to participate in England’s Royal Society

Maria Cunitz dabbled in astronomy in Germany as did Elisabetha Hevelius and Maria Winkleman…Maria discovered a comet but the credit went to her husband, as did most actions by women scientific pioneers

However, the contributions of women were shortened by…

SHE’S A WITCH, BURN HER!!! Women in the mid 17th century became

the target of persecution…the general argument was that women should NOT become free thinkers

Another issue was the “magical” powers that women supposedly held over men

The church intensified witch hunts through the argument that “magic” is only from divine origins and that if women possessed it, they were the “brides of Satan”…in reality, the church wanted to also maintain some semblance of societal and political control into new areas

Witch hunts died out when people grew common sense and started to believe that not all bad occurrences were supernatural in origin