Nicolaus Copernicus The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were known as the Scientific Revolution. During these centuries, science was starting to answer many questions about the earth. Scientists all around the world were making their assumptions on how the universe worked. Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer that also had a theory. The Copernican Theory changed many views and had a great effect on society. Copernicus lived his life in Poland. When he was nineteen, he decided to study at the University of Cracow. At the university he was required to study grammar, rhetoric and logic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astrology or astronomy. Edward Rosen is the author of, Copernicus and the Scientific Revolution. He says, "The subjects offered during his years there are known form university records that are still preserved. The names of the professors who taught those courses are also known. But the students’ records are missing."1 The grades that he received in college are unknown. However, it is known that he did not stay long enough to earn a bachelor’s degree.2 After Copernicus left school he returned home to his uncle, Lucas Waczendrode, who was the bishop of Ermeland.3 His uncle suggested that he enter the canonry n Frauenburg. The canonry is a group of clergymen that belong to a cathedral or other church. Entering the canonry would give Copernicus a stable and secure income for the rest of his life. While he waited for an opening, his uncle sent him for training at the University of Bologna.4 While there he studied mathematics and Greek language for three and half years. He also became more familiar with astronomy. In 1501 Copernicus returned to Frauenburg where he became apart of the canonry. He left quickly and started to study in Italy at the University of Padua. There he studied law and medicine.5 After a lifetime of studying, he is said to have mastered the concepts of math, medicine, theology and astronomy.6 As Copernicus began to study astronomy more, he came to strongly disagree with the Ptolemaic system of astronomy. This system was based on the idea that the earth was fixed in the center and all the other heavenly bodies moved around it. Astronomers believed that the earth was in the center because it was heavy. Copernicus saw many problems associated with this system of astronomy. For example, sometimes the planets appeared to be going in the opposite direction and the brightness of the planets would tend to change as well.
In the year of 1473, on the 19th of February, a soon-to-be, well remembered, mathematician/astronomer was born in the city of Torun, Poland. Born with the name of Nicolaus Copernicus, he was the fourth and youngest child of Nicolaus Copernicus Sr., and Barbara Watzenrode. Copernicus was, technically, born into German heritage. That being said, his primary language was german, bt many scholars believe he spoke fluently in Polish also. At ten years of age, the unfortunate happened to Nicolaus; His father passed away. After the passing of Nicolaus Sr., a maternal uncle stepped in and took over the parenting role. Nicolaus’ uncle took matters into his own hands to make sure Copernicus acquired the most outstanding education possible. Copernicus enrolled in the University of Cracow in the year of 1491. While at the university, he studied painting and mathematics. At that time, Copernicus took no classes over astronomy. Nicolaus developed a growing interest in cosmos and books. He then started a collection of books on astronomy. Following Nicolaus’s graduation from Cracow in 1494, he returned back to the city Torun. Copernicus's uncle had already had a job as a cannon arranged for him prior to his arrival. This job at Frombork Cathedral, was usually only given to priests. Such a fortunate and unusual opportunity, Copernicus took the job. He then held that job for the rest of his life. The position of a cannon allowed him to fund money to continue his studies for as long as he desired. There was really only one major downfall of the job. It took up a lot of his time, leaving him very little free time. It came to the point where academics had to come second. In the year of 1496, Nicolaus took a leave from his job. Not a two-week leave,...
The scientific revolution can be considered one of the biggest turning points in European history. Because of new scientific ideas and theories, a new dawn of thinking and questioning of natural elements had evolved. Scientific revolution thinkers such as Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus all saw nature as unknowable and wanted to separate myths from reality. During the scientific revolution during mid 1500-late 1600s, key figures such as Isaac Newton and Nicolaus Copernicus greatly impacted Europe in terms of astronomical discoveries, scientific methods, and the questioning of God to challenge the church’s teachings.
Leonhard Euler was born in Basel, Switzerland as the first born child of Paul Euler and Marguerite Brucker on April 15, 1707. Euler’s formal education started in Basel where he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother on his father’s orders. Euler's father wanted his son to follow him in working for the church and sent him to the University of Basel to prepare him in becoming a pastor. He entered the University in 1720 to gain general knowledge before moving on to more advanced studies. Euler’s pastime was used for studying theology, Greek, and Hebrew in order to become a pastor like his father. During that time at the age of thirteen Euler started gaining his masters in Philosophy at the University of Basel, and in 1723 he achieved his master degree. On his weekends, Euler was learning from Bernoulli in several subjects because Bernoulli noticed that Euler was very intelligent in all types of mathematics and it also helped that Euler’s father was a friend of the Bernoulli Family, at the time Johann Bernoulli was Europe’s best mathematician. Bernoulli would later become one of ...
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician ho discovered that planetary motion is elliptical. Early in his life, Kepler wanted to prove that the universe obeyed Platonistic mathematical relationships, such as the planetary orbits were circular and at distances from the sun proportional to the Platonic solids (see paragraph below). However, when his friend the astronomer Tycho Brahe died, he gave Kepler his immense collection of astronomical observations. After years of studying these observations, Kepler realized that his previous thought about planetary motion were wrong, and he came up with his three laws of planetary motion. Unfortunately, he did not have a unifying theory for these laws. This had to until Newton formulated his laws of gravity and motion.
Copernicus was a scientist and philosopher whose theory proposed that the sun was stationary, and the heavens orbit around the sun. Galileo tried to convince the Church not to abolish the Copernican theory but was told that he was not to entertain such thoughts with others.... ... middle of paper ... ...(n.d.).
Later, after Newton's mother had returned to him upon the death of her second husband, Sir Isaac Newton's passion for science and mathematics was ignited. This happened as a result of his mother's plan to take him out of school and make him a farmer, a occupation which he thought was pitiful because of his many failures. He later returned to school to finish his education (deciding to glorify and share Jesus through science) and, after having his uncle successfully persuade his mother, enrolled at the University of Cambridge.
Until 1609 Galileo taught math and made several discoveries in the area of physics. Galileo mathematically described physics and friction as it relates to motion. Galileo also became interested in optics and astronomy. In 1609, Galileo built his first telescope and about a year later. He discovered the Moon, Jupiter’s four largest moons and many new stars. Three of Galileo’s most important works where Letters on Sunspots, The Assayer and Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Galileo’s Letter’s on Sunspots showed of solar imperfections and described axial rotations. Galileo’s The Assayer showed the nature of scientific investigation through observation and mathematics. One of Gal...
He moved to the city of Linz, Austria where he had received the post of province mathematician. On his way over to the city with his wife and two children, the wife and his favorite son had died. He spent his next fourteen years with his second wife Susan Reuttinger and trying to keep his mother from being tried as a witch. He was able to get his Mother Katerina released partially due to the objections on the legality of the torture the authorities used. Throughout this he was still able to work while defending his mother He also published two more books: Harmonice mundi and Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae. In these books he was able to publish the last of his three laws of planetary
The world that we live in today would be unfamiliar, if the influential individuals in the past not speak out about their unique ideas. These different ideas and theories are revolutionary - the impact they have on everyday society is needed. The complexity of the universe is only evolving with our intellect, and through learned individuals, we will continue to advance in what we think we know about the universe. The transition from Ptolemy’s “Geocentric” view, the belief that the Earth is the center of the universe, to Copernicus’ “Heliocentric” view, the belief that the Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun, displays just how easy these influencers can change the minds of others. Greek astronomer Ptolemy presumed that the Earth
As Europe began to move out of the Renaissance, it brought with it many of the beliefs of that era. The continent now carried a questioning spirit and was eager for more to study and learn. Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many discoveries were made in subjects all across the realm of science, but it was the doubting and testing of old traditions and authorities that truly made this time into a revolution. The Scientific Revolution challenged the authority of the past by changing the view of nature from a mysterious entity to a study of mathematics, looking to scientific research instead of the Church, and teaching that there was much knowledge of science left to be discovered.
The revolution brought about many radical changes and ideas that helped to strengthen it and the scientists that helped to bring it about became significant persons in history. "The emergence of a scientific community is one of the distinguishing marks of the Scientific Revolution."2 It was this form of community that gave a foundation for open thinking and observing throughout the sixteenth century and through twenty-first century. It was the first revolution that had more of a dedication to the ongoing process of science than of a goal to achieve scientific knowledge.3
The changes produced during the Scientific Revolution were not rapid but developed slowly and in an experimental way. Although its effects were highly influential, the forerunners Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes only had a few hundred followers. Each pioneered unique ideas that challenged the current views of human beingsí relationship with nature. With the backing of empirical observation and mathematical proof, these ideas slowly gained acceptance. As a result, the operation of society, along with prior grounds for faith were reconsidered. Their ideas promoted change and reform for humansí well-being on earth.
His spent his life almost entirely in his hometown; he did not go more than a hundred miles only when he lived for several months in Arnsdorf as preceptor. Living in that city he worked as a private tutor to earn a living after the death of his father in 1746. When he was thirty-one years old he received his doctorate at the University of Konigsberg, then he started teaching. In 1770 after failing twice in trying to get chance to give a lecture and have rejected offers from other universities, he finally was appointed ordinary professor of logic and metaphysics. He taught at the university and remained there for 15 years, beginning his lectures on the sciences and mathematics, however over time he covered most branches of philosophy.
Much to the dismay of the Church, two astronomers Galileo and Kepler had the audacity to challenge the authorities by suggesting that the sun-not the earth-was at the center of the universe. The church had a stronghold on the way the spiritual and physical world worked, so these discoveries only added to the Church’s resistance to their aims. Their discoveries came only after Kepler and Galileo began to question ancient theories about how the world functioned. These ancient truths were widely held but were inconsistent with the new observations that they had made. Kepler had discovered the laws of planetary motion which suggested that the planet would move in elliptical orbits, while Galileo followed with his discovery of the principle of inertia. Galileo concluded his finding b...
Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15th, 1564. His father, Vincenzo was a music teacher and musician. After his family moved to Florence, Galilei was sent to a monastery to be educated. He was so happy there that he decided to become a monk, but his father wanted him to be a medical doctor and brought him home to Florence. He was never really interested in medicine and studied mathematics at the University of Pisa. He was especially interested in famous mathematicians like Euclid (geometry) and Archimedes. In fact in 1586 he wrote his first book about one of Archimedes theories. He eventually became head of mathematics at the University of Pisa where he first wrote about a very important idea that he developed. It was about using experiments to test theories. He wrote about falling bodies in motion using inclined planes to test his theories.