Quinton Ross The Scientific Revolution has had a dramatic impact throughout the world. It has helped us make scientific advancements, such as heliocentricity and atomism, helped us find flaws in our government, and allowed women to be involved in education,. Despite persecution from the Catholic Church, it made a difference in the world. The basis for the Scientific Revolution was the Scientific Method.1 This process uses logic and experimentation to explain works of the universe. This process removed blind adherence to tradition from science, and allowed scientists to logically find answers through the use of reasoning.1 One scientist by the name of Nicolaus Copernicus created the heliocentric model of the universe.
At the time, discovery was looked at with skepticism as people had become accustomed to the bible being the only source of information about the world. For example, Newton’s discovery of the laws of gravity demonstrated that there were natural, unchangeable and yet predictable laws that governed the universe (Newton 2). In turn, Enlightenment thinkers believed that if natural laws did exist, and humans could discover these laws, then they could design the ideal society to live in. Rousseau is a great example of a philosopher who looked at the social issues that were brought about by the new mindset of the Scientific Revolution. He was obsessed with making social reforms as people had begun to view themselves differently since they were no longer deigned to be the center of the universe.
It was not until the sciences of astronomy, optics, and mechanics — the exact sciences, known as the “middle sciences” to Aristotle and his followers in the late Middle Ages — became fully integrated with natural philosophy in the seventeenth century that early modern science emerged. Although the process of integration began in the Middle Ages, it accelerated rapidly in the seventeenth century. The importance of the union between the exact sciences and natural philosophy was truly significant. Other societies that at one time had well-developed mathematics and astronomy, but failed to generate, and maintain, a well-developed natural philosophy, eventually saw their mathematical sciences fade away. A prime example is the civilization of Islam.2 In what follows, I shall focus on two basic issues that are most relevant to natural philosophy and should be of great interest to historians of science.
The Scientific Revolution was a period in the 1500’s and 1600’s in which scientific thinkees challenged traditional ideas from the Catholic Church and relied on observation and experiments. They also believed that God controlled everything. European scholars accepted the theory of the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy. Ptolemy taught that the Earth was the center of the universe. Which is what the Catholic church also believed.
What were the ideas expressed during the Enlightenment? How did they spread?- A philosophical movement in eighteenth-century Europe that fostered the belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that governed social behavior and that were just as scientific as the laws of physics. 3. What were Benjamin Franklin’s achievements?- Some of Benjamin's greatest achievements are later in life when he became a premier statesman. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1750 where his principal duties were voyaging to London to represent the colony before the English parliament.
The Enlightenment The Great Awakening Two important movements that changed the 1700’s were the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening. The Enlightenment began in Europe, which stressed reason and natural laws that explain the events. The Great Awakening awoke colonist about the religious fervor after it had started to die down. Both The Enlightenment and Great Awakening were different but had similar consequences for America. The Enlightenment was in the eighteenth century intellectual movement that used the scientific method and reasons that meant obtaining knowledge.
Enlightenment thinkers had three main long term beliefs that helped to shape America’s government. The first was belief in progress. The idea of progress was born after the scientific revolution, which influenced people to use human reason to solve social problems. Secondly, it caused people to stop looking at their church for guidance and to start using reason and logic to solve problems. The Enlightenment thinkers also wanted to abolish religious superstitions and promote tolerance of all religions.
During this period of time, the modern world was born as Gutenberg perfected printing, Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, Copernicus found that the earth revolved around the sun, Martin Luther founded a new religion, the use of the cannon and the harquebus ended chivalry and da Vinci and Michelangelo created a new form of art. This period in time marked the rebirth of humanism, and the revival of cultural achievements for their own sake in all forms of art, including music. The word "Renaissance" in itself is defined as a "rebirth"or a "reconstruction". During this time, artists and musicians produced works that displayed more artistic freedom and individualism. This creativity allowed artists to abandon the stricter ways of the Medieval Era.
An example is when Galileo challenged the belief that all things in the solar system orbit the Earth. Galileo looked at the night sky and calculated that all things in the solar system orbit the sun. However, despite the fact he was correct, he was imprisoned for life by the church. Now, the Renaissance was called the major rebirth that the world needed. People were sick and tired of the old ways, so they worked toward reform.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, a counter revolution began which was established on the principles of reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought. The enlightenment is seen as a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement that developed the notion of the science of man as well proposed the history of the human race could be empirically studied as well as examined thus revealing the truth behind human society. Enlightenment deemed that “that universal and objective knowledge, gained through scientific investigation, applied to all peoples everywhere” For this reason, Enlightenment was spread far beyond the continent of Europe. Moreover, Enlightenment was built on the notion of several different premises regarding human life. Science, scientific method, logic, experimentation, education and reasoning were at the focal point of this movement.