Summary

The Scientific Revolution was a time of improvements and change for our ways of thinking and how our world was run. People before then had their religion dominate their lives and had a hard time transitioning to believing the facts the scientists discovered and proven. The discoveries made weren't usually trusted or believed until years or decades later. The time frame for the Scientific Revolution was between the lives of Nicholas Copernicus and Isaac Newton, even though people were still making discoveries afterwards. The Scientific Revolution was followed by the Enlightenment, which lasted until 1800 (Spielvogel). There were advancements in chemistry, medicine, machinery, astronomy, and mathematics made during this time period. This time was also a push towards equality between men and women on intelligence. It didn't fully convince men that women were as smart as them, or capable of conducting experiments (The Scientific Revolution). Scientists of this time weren't always as educated as they could have been, but their discoveries were proven to be true many times, and have become theories and laws. This time was defined greatly by the great people who lived and helped develop the world around them.

Impact today

The Scientific Revolution has impacted us today. Bacon's scientific method has helped make experiments form reliable. Cavendish and Maria Winklemann have encouraged many women to contribute to the field of science. Newton and Boyle's laws have helped to explain how our world and universe work, along with other works and laws influenced by other scientists. Descartes's work emphasized the importance of his own mind and that he could only be sure of his own existence (Spielvogel). The works of these men and women helped toward the development of technology and natural sciences today. Today, people are able to harness power from natural resources using the laws developed and tested during this time. Medical procedures are more effective today thanks to medical break throughs. Scientists have also paved the way to the rise of democracy by advocating the rights of individuals (Spielvogel). There are many impacts that the Scientific Revolution made to our day.

Items from the Scientific Revolution

Many items from the Scientific Revolution have been useful in the development of the modern day, and many procedures in medicine and chemistry have been improved. The scientific method from Francis Bacon has been useful since it was created. The way of carefully organizing and conducting them to test hypotheses or theories was his way of making science benefit people. Boyle conducted controlled experiments and gave us "Boyle's Law", which describes how gases condense. He learned that the volume of gas varied on the amount of pressure exerted on it and temperature affected that as well. Andreas Vesalius, a professor of surgery, improved on the human anatomy work of Galen, a Greek physician who dissected animals to create his human anatomy chart. Vesalius was able to dissect human bodies for his studies while he worked at the University of Padua. Women contributed their works as well. Margaret Cavendish contributed many books, like "Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy", about how humans were masters of nature through the use of science (Spielvogel). These works and discoveries have proven to be useful in the development of our science today.

Events during the Scientific Revolution

There were many important events during the Scientific Revolution. In 1543, Nicholas Copernicus presented his idea of the universe, the heliocentric model with the sun at the center. He argued that the planets revolved around the sun, and our moon revolved around the Earth (Spielvogel). Another event is Newton's works getting published. Newton not only got his work the "Principia", about the laws of gravity, published in 1687, but he also got other works published. "Opticks: Or, a treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light." involving white light being made from all other colors combined. This work was challenged by Robert Hooke, and a few other scientists, and his work didn't get gratified like he wanted it to immediately (Isaac Newton). Other events would be Galilei publishing his work "The Starry Messenger" in 1610, talking about his discoveries of starts being orbs of gasses and fire, and not heavenly bodies of light. The discoveries included mountains on the moon, sunspots, and four moons revolving around Jupiter (Spielvogel). Had these works not been published during this time, this time period wouldn't have been named the Scientific Revolution.

People in the Scientific Revolution

Many people worked hard for their views during the Scientific Revolution and have influenced it greatly. A few of these people include Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Margaret Cavendish, and Francis Bacon. Copernicus was an astronomer, but didn't take any astronomy classes in school, but rather painting and mathmatics (Nicolaus Copernicus). He was one of the first men to believe our solar system revolved around the sun. This, of course, upset many people because this concept chased away the locations they had set for heaven. Galileo's research on the stars and moon supported Copernicus ideas, and he also dicovered that stars weren't just bodies of light, but orbs of burning gas (Spielvogel). Newton, a mathmetician, made many observations with and wrote a book about the three laws of motion, which are now called "Newtons Laws". Like other scientists back then, Issac didn't study much in school. His fasinations with the world made him have poor studying habits; however, this did not mean that he wasn't learning (Isaac Newton). Francis Bacon, even though not a scientist/philosopher himself, created our modern day scientific method. He understood that better observations and calculations would be made if we had an organized way of conducting experiments (Spielvogel). These people made our lives easier today by making their discoveries and making them public. If they had not published/advertised their works and findings, we wouldn't be as advanced with our world today.

Bibliography

Here are the sources I've used: "Figure: Views of the Universe: Ptolemy vs. Copernicus." Figure: Views of the Universe: Ptolemy vs. Copernicus. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013. . Hatch, Robert A. "The Scientific Revolution." Scientific Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2013. . "Isaac Newton Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. . "Newton's 3 Laws of Motion." Newton's 3 Laws of Motion. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013. . "Nicolaus Copernicus Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. . "Science Clarified." The First Telescope. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013. . "Science Poems of Margaret Cavendish." Science Poems of Margaret Cavendish. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2013. . Spielvogel, Jackson J. "Chapter 17: Revolution and Enlightenment." Glencoe World History. New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2003. 508-40. Print. "The Copernican Model: A Sun-Centered Solar System." The Copernican Model. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013. . "The Scientific Revolution." The Scientific Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. .

Timeline of the Revolution

The Scientific Revolution occurred roughly between 1550 and 1700. Some people also refer to the time period to be between the lives of Nicholas Copernicus and Issac Newton, to state who the revolution started with and who it ended with (Hatch). It doesn't mean there aren't changes to our scientific processes today, this was just a time period in our history that has recorded information of large changes happening often. The changes were very large and many people were against the views of the men who made the changes/discoveries. Since people put their religion first, the sudden views that made God nonexistent were immediately ignored by citizens and courts ordered many scientists to stay in their homes at all times. "In the Middle Ages, many educated Europeans took the intense interest in the world around them. However, these 'natural philosophers,' as medieval scientists were known, did not make observations of the natural world," (Spielvogel). This statement tells us that the scientists back then weren't confided like the city thought they were. They could still make observations and calculations while sitting in their parlor. Had the Scientific Revolution not occurred during this time, there's no doubt it would have happened sooner or later. It also opened up a chain of events that led to our scientific way of thinking today.