The Scientific Revolution

Many scientists today revere Newton’s intellect because of his theory of gravity. Although this inevitably leads to many Whiggish accounts, the evidence from history gives a more nuanced view of his discoveries. In particular, Newton’s obsession of the occult and theology, the previous works from his predecessors, and the correspondences between his peers demonstrate that modern society overrated Newton’s ingenuity.

The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment In the 17th Century, there was much controversy between religion and science. The church supported a single worldview that God’s creation was the center of the universe. The kings and rulers were set in their ways to set the people’s minds to believe this and to never question it. From these ideas, the Enlightenment was bred from the Scientific Revolution.

Before the Early Modern Period, the system of the universe often eluded people of earth. Early scientists and philosophers like Aristarchus of Samos, and Ptolemy formed hypotheses that touched the surface the universe’s complex functions, but did not full reveal the mysteries the heavens hold. However, when mathematician and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton proposed his law of universal gravitation, numerous doors to the understanding of the world began to open.

Isaac Newton's 1687 Principia Mathematica, expounding a universe structured by natural laws, and John Locke's essay “Concerning Human Understanding”, published in 1690, promulgated the...

The expansion and endorsement of intellectualism by the many important forward thinking scientists created a desire for social revolution, which, in turn, created an atmosphere conducive to further intellectual study. The Scientific Revolution was, in essence, both a social and intellectual revolution. During the Scientific Revolution, scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, and Christiaan Huygens wrestled with questions concerning God, human intellectualism, and their scientific views of the universe, its purpose, and how it functions. Ultimately, the implications of these new scientific discoveries began to change the way people thought and behaved. People began to question the widely accepted and Roman Catholic Church endorsed Aristotelian views of the universe. This led to the questioning of the traditional views of the state and societal structure. The geocentric Ptolemaic model was no longer blindly accepted. The earth was now no longer easily explainable or thought to be the center of the universe. Beliefs that were hundreds of years old were now proven to be false.

Discuss the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment along with the subsequent reaction as embodied by the Romantic movement. Give specific examples of how these movements affected the arts. What was their eventual impact on the western intellectual world.

Isaac Newton’s story of how an apple falling from a tree that hit his head inspired him to formulate a theory of gravitation is one that all school children grow up hearing about. Newton is arguably one of the most influential scientific minds in human history. He has published books such as Arithmetica Universalis, The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms, Methods of Fluxions, Opticks, the Queries, and most famously, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia MathematicaHe formulated the three laws of gravitation, discovered the generalized binomial theorem, developed infinitesimal calculus (sharing credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz, who developed the theory independently), and worked extensively on optics and refraction of light. Newton changed the way that people look at the world they live in and how the universe works.

Galileo Galilei and the religious authorities represent the clash between the new ideas and old ideas of the 17th century. Galileo Galilei represents the new ideas with his heliocentric theory, and the religious authorities represent the old ideas while demanding that Galileo Galilei’s ideas are false because the Bible says that the earth is the center of the universe. Galileo Galilei said, “They know that as to the arrangement of the parts of the universe, I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the earth revolves about the sun. They know also that I support this position not only by refuting the arguments of Ptolemy and Aristotle, but by producing many counter-arguments; in particular, some which relate to physical effects whose causes can perhaps be assigned in no other way.”(3:1) This provides infor...

Sir Isaac Newton, the man that helped people figure out why things move and how they move, had a very interesting life. In the beginning of his early life, he dealt with hardships, and progressed to be an extremely inspiring man later in his life. In college he had many breakthroughs with his scientific works, including the laws of physics that we still use today. His life has answered many of people’s scientific questions that are still being asked today in physics’ classrooms all around the world. His discoveries have helped people for over 350 years to know and understand why things move the way they move, and stop the way they stop. Newton’s works comprise of the Principia and many other important publishing’s that he started when he was just in college. Newton’s life was full of discoveries, from his life as a minor to the years later in his life when he became an important individual in the government and changed the world, as we know it today.

For centuries scientific discoveries and religion have clashed, especially discoveries that shape the foundations of our universe.  In the early 1600’s Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei testified to the Roman Catholic inquisition that the Copernican model of the Solar System was correct and that the Aristotle model the church followed was incorrect.  By saying this, he attested that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system and postulated theorems about the physics of falling bodies and other astronomical observations to support his claim.  Despite his evidence, Galileo was confined to house arrest for heresy in 1638 (Galileo).  Over time, however, multiple astronomers in differing parts of the world confirmed Galileo’s theory to give us the model of the solar system we have today.  Galileo’s struggle demonstrates how even the most logical arguments backed with a plethora of evidence can...