Scientific Revolution essays

Scientific Revolution essays Prior to the scientific revolution, Greek philosophers such as Aristotle or astronomers like Claudius Ptolemy believed that the earth was the centre of the universe and the church sanctioned their ideas (Science and Religion in Western History, 1995, Frederick Gregory). However, Herbert Butterfield stated in his 1949 volume The Origins of Modern Science that, since (the scientific revolution) overturned the authority in science not only of the middle ages but of the ancient world...it outshines everything since the rise of Christianity. Yet, in order to assess the appropriateness of his statement, it is important to look at the various opinions voiced during the scientific revolution. For instance, the opinions voiced by Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, which all help to illustrate the emergence of a new view of the world and thus validate Butterfields statement to be an appropriate description of the scientific revolution. Polish monk and astronomer, Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), was trained in law, medicine and mathematics and he believed that the sun, not the earth, was the centre of the universe. Copernicus produced ideas to solve the problems that overwhelmed astronomers of the sixteenth century regarding the motions of the universe. Furthermore, he came up with mathematical calculations that provided a basis for a new view of the world and a model of the universe that expressed his calculations in a visual form. However, since Copernicus theory contrasted the beliefs and views of society at that time it was denounced in 1543. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) an Italian mathematician and astronomer won the respect and admiration of many people of his time because of his inventions. He constructed a military compass, an instrument for measuring the expansion of fluids, and one of the early telescopes with which he discovered Jupiters satellites, i ...