![]() Wikimedia CommonsĪ key outcome of the Scientific Revolution was the development of the scientific method. This image describes the Scientific Method as a cyclic/iterative process of continuous improvement. Their work led to many dramatic discoveries. Gradually, scientists developed a new method for probing nature’s mysteries. Such discoveries encouraged Europeans to question existing knowledge. Explorers who visited the Americas proved him wrong. For instance, in the 2nd century C.E., Ptolemy had stated that there were only three continents: Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Age of Exploration also helped spur the growth of science. Trust in reason and observation became a key part of modern science. The Renaissance physician Vesalius dissected corpses to test ancient ideas about the body. Renaissance thinkers also observed nature directly. This was the belief that reason, or logical thought, could be used to discover basic truths about the world. Many European philosophers were influenced by Greek rationalism. They also made advances of their own in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and mathematics.įrom the works of these scholars, Europeans learned about a greater variety of ideas. Arab, Christian, and Jewish scholars in the Muslim world translated many classical works. For example, Renaissance scholars rediscovered the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. He held that the existence of God, for example, could be proven by reason.ĭuring the Renaissance, many thinkers began to question the conclusions of earlier thinkers. Aquinas argued that reason, or logical thought, could be used to support Christian beliefs. In the late Middle Ages, philosophers like Thomas Aquinas combined Aristotle’s thinking with Christian faith. This Greek philosopher had written about logic in the 300s B.C.E. The second source was the teachings of Aristotle. Whatever the Bible seemed to say about nature, then, must be true. For Christians, the Bible was the word of God. What was different about the Scientific Revolution of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries? What factors helped to bring it about?ĭuring the Middle Ages, two major sources guided most Europeans’ thinking about the natural world. Humans have asked questions about nature since ancient times. 330 BC, with modern alabaster mantle / Photo by Jastrow, Museo nazionale romano di palazzo Altemps, Wikimedia Commons Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippos, c. Thinkers like Galileo gave birth to modern science. As you will learn, the scientific method uses both logic and observation to help people understand the natural world. Galileo’s demonstration is an application of the scientific method. Instead, the two balls landed at the same time. They expected the heavier ball to land first. The results shocked the crowd of students and professors. He dropped two balls of different weights from the city’s Leaning Tower. This idea seemed logical, but the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei questioned it.Īccording to his first biographer, Galileo performed a demonstration in the city of Pisa, where he was teaching. Aristotle had said that heavier objects fall to the ground faster than lighter ones. Careful observation also revealed errors in accepted ideas about the physical world.Ī good example is Aristotle’s description of falling objects. Inventions like the telescope showed them a universe no one had imagined before. They asked fresh questions, and they answered them in new ways. The other was the work of classical thinkers, especially the philosopher Aristotle.ĭuring the Scientific Revolution, scientists challenged traditional teachings about nature. One was the Bible and religious teachings. Wikimedia CommonsĮxploring a time when science emerged as a new way of gaining knowledge about the world.īefore this time, Europeans relied on two main sources for their understanding of nature. The French Academy of Sciences was established in 1666.
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