Introduction

What is revolution?

It is a fundamental change in a way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change in the way we look at things.

What is Science?

Science – provides a world view and gives us ways in which to think about and explain our world and ourselves.

What is the Scientific Revolution?

It is

• · a revolution in the way the individual perceives the world.
• · a change in man's thought process.
• · an intellectual revolution -- a revolution in human knowledge
• · a change in belief

Scientific Revolution is a new way of viewing the natural world—based on observation and inquiry. It refers to the historical changes in thought and belief and to changes in society.

Brief history of scientific revolutions

Take a look at the sky. What do you see? In the morning, you see the sun rises in the east. In the evening the sun sets in the west. At night, you seem to see the moon moving around. All these gives the impression that the earth is standing still, while the sun is the rotating around. This was what early thinkers like Aristotle (384–322 BC) and Ptolemy (c. AD 85–165) saw and therefore promoted the geocentric theory. s.

Most knowledge in the Middle Ages comes from the Bible and Greek/Roman sources and this supports the geocentric theory -moon, sun, planets revolve around earth. This is the medieval world view.

During the period 1550-1700, with new discoveries, overseas explorations, Scientist begin to question accepted beliefts and begin to make new theories based on experimentation. Scholars make new developments in astronomy and mathematics.

Later, In the mid-1500s, scientists begin to question accepted beliefs and make new theories based on experimentation. This resulted in a revolutionary model of the Universe and the four giants of scientific discovery emerged:

Who are the four giants?

1. Nicolaus Copernicus

2. Johannes Kepler

3. Galileo Galilei

4. Isaac Newton

Time line:

Nicolaus Copernicus ==> Johannes Kepler ==> Galileo Galilei ==> Isaac Newton

These four thinkers overturned the authority of the Middle Ages and the classical world. The authority refers not specifically to that of the Church as the authority of the church was already well under way even before the Lutheran Reformation had begun. The authority refers also to the intellectual in nature

The long term effects of both the Scientific Revolution and the modern acceptance and dependence upon science can be felt today in our daily lives

In 1948, the British historian Herbert Butterfield ((1900- 1979) wrote that:

“The Revolution in science overturned the authority in not only of the middle ages but of the ancient world -- it ended not only in the eclipse of scholastic philosophy but in the destruction of Aristotelian physics”