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| Copernicus (1473-1543) MU |
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Definition
Setting: Italy (1506-1530)
Context: He was the first astronomer who believed that the sun was at the center of the universe. He rejected Ptolemy's ideas as too complicated and partially wrong. His ideas, though, ended up being just as complicated because he included Aristotle's ideas in his theory. He published his ideas in his book, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres."
Effect: His new theory was accepted and rejected. It created uncertainty about the human role in the universe as well as God's location. Many astronomers were attracted to his new ideas; the Catholic Church also kept quiet until the work of Galileo appeared. But, many Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther firmly rejected his theory. |
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Setting: An island near Copenhagen, Uraniborg Castle
Context: Brahe compiled a detailed record of his observations of the positions and movements of the stars and planets. His discoveries led him to reject the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system and even rejected Copernicus's ideas about the movement of the Earth.
Effect: His discoveries helped to inspire Johannes Kepler and his research. |
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An astronomer that had a keen interest in Hermetic thought and Neoplatonic mathematical magic. He believed that the universe was constructed on the basis of geometric figures, and that the harmony of the human soul was mirrored in the numerical relationships existing between the planets. This led him to try to discover the "music of the spheres."
He succeeded Brahe as imperial mathematician and obtained his detailed astronomical data, which led Kepler to write his three laws of planetary motion. These laws eliminated the idea of uniform circular motion as well as the idea of crystalline spheres revolving in circular orbits. These laws also confirmed Copernicus's heliocentric theory while changing it in some ways and were another step in disproving the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system. |
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| The Scientific Method-Francis Bacon MU |
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Francis Bacon believed that science, art, and human knowledge should be reconstructed based on proper foundations; he did not doubt humans' ability to know the natural world, but believed they had proceeded incorrectly.
His new idea (the scientific method) was based on inductive principles. He urged scientists to proceed from the particular to the general, rather than begin with assumed principles from which logical conclusions could be deduced. From organized experiments and thorough observations, he believed, correct generalizations could be developed. Overall, Bacon's concern was for more practical than pure science. |
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A theorist who tried to explain the doubt and uncertainty pervasive in the 17th Century. He revealed his ideas in his book, "Discourse on Method," and has been called the father of rationalism because of these ideas. These ideas were so controversial that his book was placed on the papal Index of Forbidden Books and condemned by many Protestant theologians.
The starting point of his first new theory was doubt; he based his doubt on personal experiences, which led him to reject all he had learned and start over by accepting the senses. Accepting the senses allowed him to question his own existence. Thus, he came to realize that the mind controlled him; he put emphasis on the mind and committed to accept things that his reason said were true. This allowed him to deduce two additional principles, the existence of God and the separation of mind and matter.
His second idea was similar to and constructed from his first. He argued that the universe contained two objects, the mind and matter. The mind is spiritual and not composed of matter while everything else (extended substance) is matter. Overall, by using the mind along with mathematics, humans can understand the world because it is pure mechanism created by God, the great geometrician. |
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| The Scientific Method-Descartes MU |
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| Descartes proposed a different approach the the method by emphasizing deduction and mathematical logic. He believed that an individual could start with self-evident truths and then deduce more complex conclusions. This complemented Bacon's emphasis on experiment and induction. Sir Isaac Newton eventually united Bacon's ideas with Descartes ideas, which allowed the method to be used universally to arrive at general concepts. |
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| Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) MU |
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| A scientist who came from an aristocratic background. She participated in the crucial scientific debates of the time and corresponded with important people on these issues. Since she was a woman, she was not allowed to join the Royal Society. Yet, she still wrote many works such as, "Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy and Grounds of Natural Philosophy." She attacked the rationalist and empiricist views of scientific knowledge and was extremely critical of the belief that through science humans would be masters of nature. |
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| Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642) CR |
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| Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy," the "father of modern physics," the "father of science," and "the Father of Modern Science." Famous works include both The Starry Messenger, written in defense of the Copernicus model, and Dailogue on the Chief World Systems (copernican and ptolemaic). |
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| Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677) CR |
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| Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism.By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism, Spinoza is considered to be one of Western philosophy's most important philosophers. |
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| Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) CR |
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Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a civil servant. Pascal's earliest work was in the natural and applied sciences where he made important contributions to the construction of mechanical calculators, the study of fluids, and clarified the concepts of pressure and vacuum by generalizing the work of Evangelista Torricelli. Pascal also wrote in defense of the scientific method.
Towards the end of his life he became obsessed with trying to write an "apology for the christian religion" which he completed in the letter Pensées. |
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| Jean de La Bruyere (1645 - 1696) CR |
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Bruyere was a French essayist and moralist who made many remarks about the education of women when he dubbed them "guns, items only worthy of being collected."
Also the novel he wrote, Caractères, appeared in 1688, and at once,brought him "bien des lecteurs et bien des ennemis" (many readers and many enemies).
At the head of these enemies were Thomas Corneille, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle and Isaac de Benserade, who were clearly aimed at in the book, as well as innumerable other persons, men and women of letters as well as of society, identifiable by manuscript "keys" compiled by the scribblers of the day. |
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| William Harvey (1578-1657) CR |
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| William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who was the first to describe correctly and in exact detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart. All of which was achieved through his publication On the Motion of the Heart and Blood, itself a severe blow to the theories presented by Galen. |
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| Royal Academy of Sciences and Royal Society CR |
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The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is one of the earliest academies of sciences.
The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is arguably the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London". The Society was initially an extension of the "Invisible College", with the founders intending for it to be a place of research and discussion. The Society today acts as a scientific advisor to Her Majesty's Government, receiving a grant-in-aid from them, funding a variety of research fellowships and scientific start-up companies and acting as the United Kingdom's Academy of Sciences. |
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Andreas Vesalius (Brussels, December 31, 1514 - Zakynthos, October 15, 1564) was an anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De humani corporis fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body). Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy.
His book, On the Workings of the Human Body), was based on his Paduan lectures, during which he deviated from common practice by dissecting a corpse to illustrate what he was discussing. It presents a careful examination of the organs and the complete structure of the human body. This would not have been possible without the many advances that had been made during the Renaissance, including both the artistic developments and the technical development of printing. Because of this, he was able to produce illustrations superior to any that had been produced up to then. |
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