Essay on The Scientific Revolution - 1344 Words

In the centuries preceding the Scientific Revolution people attempted to understand natural phenomena through the lenses of doctrine and philosophical speculation. Scientists were content with to rely on a synthesis of Aristotelian framework and dogma in attempt to describe the world. During the Scientific Revolution scientists began to embrace empiricism as a way to better understand the intricacies of nature. Unlike today scientists during the Scientific Revolution didn’t see a dichotomy between science and religion. Scientists’ chief motivation in investigating nature was to add empirical support for the concept of divine design; the belief that held that God established order in the universe according to discernible principles.†¦show more content†¦This allowed scientists to combine observations made during experiments with formulas to form theories that could model realistic conditions found in nature. Beyond its empirical utility, the fusion of mathema tics with observational science gained traction for its religious ramifications as well. Scientists reasoned that God made the universe according to a divine order governed by mathematics. In noting the inextricability of mathematics with nature Galileo remarked â€Å" The great book of nature – God wrote- can be read only by those who know the language in which it is written. And this language is mathematics† (Gullen 23). One man who strongly believed in this concept and fully realized its applications was Sir Isaac Newton. A deeply pious man Newton set out to lend mathematical credence to the principle of divine design. Through the developments made by Kepler astronomers were able to predict the movement of the planets in their rotation around the Sun. However, Newton sought to answer a much more fundamental question. Newton wanted to discover the cause behind the planet’s motion. For Newton the answer lied in Kepler’s Third Law of planetary motion. A s a necessary consequence of the law, Newton noticed the planets moved faster closer to the Sun and slowed down the further away from it. This lead Newton to believe that the cause of the orbits must be the Sun itself. While examining Kepler’s mathematics Newton was ableShow MoreRelatedThe Scientific Revolution1531 Words   |  6 PagesIn the book â€Å" The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction†, Lawrence Principe discusses the general occurring events of the scientific revolution, and overviews various in-depth details in relation to those events. People at the time highly focused on the meanings and causes of their surrounds, as their motive was to â€Å"control, improve and exploit† (Principe 2) the world. In his work, Principe has successfully supported the notion that the Scientific Revolution stood as a period in time whereRead MoreScientific Discoveries Of The Scientific Revolution1548 Words   |  7 PagesScientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution refers to a time in history when developments in the sciences took off and changed the view of society regarding the earth and nature. Some of the relevant topics of this time were mathematics, astronomy, biology, physics and chemistry. Typically, the scientific revolution is considered the time in Europe starting around the end of the Renaissance period and lasting through the late 18th century. Between 1543 and 1700, Europe underwent many changesRead More The Scientific Revolution Essay1129 Words   |  5 Pages During the Scientific Revolution scientists such as Galileo, Copernicus, Descartes and Bacon wrestled with questions about God, human aptitude, and the possibilities of understanding the world. Eventually, the implications of the new scientific findings began to affect the way people thought and behaved throughout Europe. Society began to question the authority of traditional knowledge about the universe. This in turn, allowed them to question traditional views of the state and social order. NoRead MoreThe Scientific Revolution And Enlightenment1267 Words   |  6 PagesThe Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, which spanned from the late 1500’s to 1700’s, shaped today’s modern world through disregarding past information and seeking answers on their own through the scientific method and other techniques created during the Enlightenment. Newton’s ‘Philsophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica’ and Diderot’s Encyclopedia were both comp osed of characteristics that developed this time period through the desire to understand all life, humans are capable of understandingRead MoreEssay on The Scientific Revolution1263 Words   |  6 Pagesadvances. The Scientific Revolution began with a spark of inspiration that spread a wild fire of ideas through Europe and America. The new radical ideas affected everything that had been established and proven through religious views. The scientific revolution was more radical and innovative than any of the political revolutions of the seventeenth century.1 All of the advances that were made during this revolutionary time can be attributed to the founders of the Scientific Revolution. The revolutionRead MoreThe Scientific Revolution And The Enlightenment1528 Words   |  7 Pagessecularism to better themselves and understand the universe. As the sciences became more popular, skepticism about religious grew. A significant root of the Enlightenment was the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) which pressed the use of reasoning, inquiry, and scientific method in order to arrive that the truth. The scientific revolution was an attempt to better understand our world through the use of reason and logic. It was characterized by numerous achievement including the shift from a geocentric (Earth-centered)Read MoreThe Scientific Revolution and Its Impact1291 Words   |  5 Pages Throughout the Scientific Revolution, scientists and natural philosophers created a new scientific world by questioning popular ideas and constructing original models. During the 1500s and 1600s, the concept of individualism, the principle of being independent and self-reliant, began to be applied to one’s life. People began to have individual thoughts and started to disagree with commonly believed ideas promoted by the Church. As this way of thinking expanded throughout Europe, scientists lookedRead MoreThe Scientific Revolution Essay1165 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scientific Revolution When comparing the views presented by both Aristotle and Copernicus, one must consider the circumstances under which these men lived to understand the differences. The most obvious of these is the time in history. Aristotle came almost 2000 years earlier in the astronomy field. While Copernicus had set out to glorify the great religion of his time, Aristotles views came 200 years before Christ was even born! Although the book gives the impression nothing of significanceRead MoreThe Scientific Revolution Of The Human History Essay1102 Words   |  5 Pages Scientific Revolution: An Important Event in the Human History The moments when I write these words are history, so we could say history deals with the past. However, the past has not passed completely. The future will also be history. History is a very dynamic notion and concept. What is history is really hard to define. Change is central to history. Yet, history is not only about details. There are certain things that demonstrate true history. These events have varied in time and space. AmongRead MoreThe Effects of the Scientific Revolution Essay1346 Words   |  6 PagesHistory 208 Primary Source Paper â€Å"Scientific Revolution† 2.24.11 Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon and Joseph Needham. According to some excerpts from â€Å"Why Europe?† by Jack Gladstone and â€Å"China, Technology and Change† by Lynda Norene Shaffer, the work of these notable men can be traced back to having a significant role in the scientific focus of modern society, or what we now know to be the â€Å"Scientific Revolution† of the seventeenth century. In a world where