WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION??

By dictionary’s definition, revolution means “a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure”. The Scientific Revolution (1543 - 1687) was a period of time in which many breakthrough discoveries were made in science and philosophy, as well as a time in which the Europeans’ mindset of the universe was changed forever.

Many hundred years ago (11^th to 14^th Centuries), during The Middle Ages period, life was so different from the type of life you and I are living in now. Their lives were different from ours in many aspects; namely society, religion, way of life, culture and more.

Religion played a huge role in the Middle Ages. In Europe during that time, the only religion ever known was Christianity, of which it was in the form of Catholiticism. Church dominated the lives of the people, be it you’re a farmer, a rich man or a king. They were all highly influenced and controlled by the Church.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

The problem started when the Church (the most powerful institution in the world back then) claimed that all the other planets revolve around us – Earth. The Church felt that the image of “man” should define the world, hence they preached to the world that Earth is in the centre, and that they ruled the world. This concept is known as the Geocentricism. We all know this can’t be true, as we have already learnt about how other planets revolve around Earth, in primary school science. 

So who saved the day and shed some light on this false idea? Scientists did, namely Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton. They took note of inadequacies of standard theories and began questioning them. They were also interested in what was known as “magic” (did you know it was seen as a serious science!); these sciences contributed to the outpouring of new ideas, the questioning of the old theories and the use of math. Also, another cause of the Science Revolution was the European’s interest in technology. With new instruments and devices (printing press, telescope often made for other purposes), many of the new discoveries was made possible
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what the church thought the solar system was

WHO? WHAT? WHEN?

1. Nicolaus Copernicus (1475 – 1543)

Copernicus studied both astronomy and mathematics. He was always a careful Mathematician and a faithful Christian too. He was doubtful of the geocentricism and was the brave one that published a book based on his ideas.

*FUN FACT: Copernicus’ brother was a priest, his sister a convent nun

2. Galileo Galilei (1564 -1642)

Galileo was the most successful scientist of the Scientific Revolution, except perhaps, Isaac Newton. He studied physics, specifically the laws of gravity and motion, and did you know Galileo’s the man who invented the telescope and microscope we often see nowadays? He eventually combined his laws of physics with the observations he made with his telescope to defend the Heliocentric (sun is at the centre) concept. Upon the publication of his masterwork, he was reprimanded by the Catholic Church and sentenced to house arrest in 1633, where he remained until his death in 1642.

 *FUN FACT: Galileo didn’t complete his medical degree, he decided to switch to Mathematics instead

3. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Bacon was one of the great philosophers of the Scientific Revolution. His thoughts on logic and ethics in science and his ideas on the interaction of the various fields of science, have remained influential in the scientific world till this day.

*FUN FACT: Bacon is believed, by some to be the author of the plays, to be accredited to William Shakespeare

4. Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

Probably the most influential scientist of all time, Newton took the initial theories on astronomy to a greater level and formulated a reliable, comprehensive model of the workings of the universe based on the law of gravity. He explained his theories in the 1687 revolutionary work, often called simply the Principia. His work also went along way toward developing calculus (a method of calculation in Mathematics).

*FUN FACT: Newton almost became a farmer; he was born on Christmas

SO HMMM OUT OF THE 4 GREAT MEN, WHICH DO YOU 

THINK MADE THE GREATEST CONTRIBUTION? :D

IMPACTS - POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?

As mentioned earlier on, when the scientists started having doubts about the geocentric concept, the general public’s trust and dependency upon the church was challenged, and this led to various positive and negative impacts:

POSITIVE:

Well it was a positive outcome for the rest of the society who did not conform to the belief of the church – a new discovery and increased knowledge. The people at that time finally had the freedom to deviate from established theories, which increased new developments. Next, the scientists were “accomplished”, causing other scientists (who were previously fearful of proving something) were then inspired; they felt more confident, more creative, and finally had more freedom to be skeptical about things around them. Scientific revolution also led to great leaps of improvements in medicine 

NEGATIVE:

Churchmen started to have doubts over the church; religious people now have doubts about the existence of heaven and hell (what they believed in). The church’s unity was permanently destroyed and many members of the church left; religious people couldn’t depend on the church as their refuge anymore, too. Lastly, people living during this era of scientists, like Galileo, were not able to enjoy the fruits (benefits) of their discoveries completely, as the full extent of their discoveries could only benefit the future generations.

ALL IN ALL

Scientific Revolution was simply a period of time of optimism that gave way to an Age of Reason in the 18th century. We won’t be enjoying many of the privileges we have right now if it weren’t for the scientists of that time :)

Anyway thank you so much for visiting my blog, I really hope I have conveyed all that I can about Scientific Revolution and its main concepts to you guys! Think you’ve understood all about Scientific Revolution and would like to test your knowledge? Try a quiz here! http://myquizcreator.com/take/6422

HAVE A NICE DAY :)

word count: 1015 words (excluding picture captions)