Scientific Revolution

Nearing late 17th Century, towards the end of the Protestant Reformation movement in much of Europe, a new revolution was about to begin. Now-a-days dubbed the “Scientific Revolution” – it began primarily as a result of a combination of two major factors. First, the notable revolution before-hand, the Reformation, illustrated that it’s not peculiar to question popular opinion, sometimes it’s even welcoming to do so. Second, with the advancements in technology Europeans had access to at the time – specifically, advancements made to telescopes, allowing observers to peer further into the night sky – individual scientists had more tools at their disposal to observe the world around him. Employing new ways of research; scientists are lead to new conclusions based on either hard evidence/empirical data, or logical arguments based on valid reasoning. What the new thinkers were about to discover, however, would change their contemporary views of the world around them, even challenging age-old religious doctrine. The new methods of research developed during the Scientific Revolution encouraged logical reasoning when questioning phenomena, of which, doesn’t necessarily go against the Holy Catholic Church’s doctrine.

Now, to accurately base conclusions from observed data, and to prevent bias from the scientist, a ‘hypothesis’ – proposing an explanation to a phenomenon based on evidence as a starting point for further investigation – is employed. As well, to accurately conclude that the data/evidence obtained is true to its nature, all observations are based upon a human’s five in which the individual perceive the world through. Thus, basing evidence from the five senses, if a scientist cannot observe a phenomenon, then said phenomenon canno...

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...s explored new, unbiased ways to characterize the world around them. Though many accused of atheism by the Holy Catholic Church, these new thinkers were simply connecting to God on a more personal level by better understanding the world He created. The new methods of research developed through the Scientific Revolution encouraged logical reasoning when observing phenomena, of which, doesn’t necessarily go against the Holy Catholic Church’s teachings. Taken as a whole, the foundations set to scientific inquiry still apply today, and will for years to come.

Works Cited

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1776priestley.asp http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/world_civ/worldcivreader/world_civ_reader_2/descartes.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/newton-princ.asp http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1543copernicus2.asp http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1630galileo.asp