Unit 1 - Scientific Revolution
The following advanced:
Tycho Brahe
Antoine Lavoisier
Galileo Galilei
Willebrord Snellius
Santorio Santoria
The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries changed the way educated people looked at the world. It evolved from the Renaissance’s stress on the importance of the individuals to understand the world around them, and was the key factor that moved Europe from a world view that was primarily religious to one that was primarily secular. Although a more secular society was likely not their goal, Luther and Calvin’s attacks against the authority of the Pope provided a powerful example of how to challenge traditional authority. Their questioning attitudes produced and environment that encouraged the inquiry necessary for science to flourish.
Science in the Middle Ages was designed to help a person reach a better understanding of God and not the world. A medieval scientist would have found it inconceivable to examine the universe outside the realm of religion. During the Renaissance from the 1300’s up until the early 1500’s, science was still considered a branch of religion, and scientific thought held that the earth was a stationary object at the center of the universe. Beginning with Copernicus, however, who taught that the earth revolved around the sun, Europeans began to reject the Aristotelian-medieval scientific thought. Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton developed a new concept of a universe based on natural laws, not a mysterious God.
While the attention of Europe had been focused on politics and war, great changes were occurring in the realm of ideas. By the early seventeenth century, exciting new developments were under way in the astronomy and the physical sciences.
The heliocentric (sun-centered) theory of the universe, which Copernicus proposed in the mid-sixteenth century, gradually won acceptance, replacing the old geocentric (earth-centered) theory, first developed in the ancient times. While Sir Isaac Newton developed the law of universal gravitation, other scientist laid the foundations for the scientific study of anatomy and physiology, chemistry, biology, physics, and geology. The methodology of science was debated, and scientific societies were established to promote further research and the spread of this new knowledge. The Scientific Revolution ultimately brought radical changes to people’s understanding of the entire physical universe.
Read Pages 622 to 628
Scientific Revolution
1543 Nicolaus Copernicus publishes On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres
Vesalius publishes The Structure of the Human Body
1584 Giordano Bruno Publishes The Ash-Wednesday Supper, On Cause, Principle, and Unity, and On the Infinite Universe and Its Worlds
1591 Francois Viete Invents Analytical Trigonometry
1591 Galileo Galilei Demonstrates the Properties of Gravity
1609 Johannes Kepler publishes his first two laws of planetary motion
1610 Galileo Publishes Messenger of the Heavens
1614 John Napier publishes a table of logarithms
1618 Johannes Kepler Reveals His Third and Final Law of Planetary Motion
1620 Bacon publishes Novum Oranum
1628 William Harvey publishes On the Movement of the Heart and Blood in Animals
1630 the Slide Rule is invented
1632 Galileo publishes his Dialogue on Two Chief Systems of the World
1633 Galileo is Forced to Recant his Theories
1637 Rene Descartes publishes his Discourse on Method
1662 The Royal Society of London is Officially Organized by King Charles II
1666 Robert Boyle Publishes Origin of Form and Qualities
1687 Sir Isaac Newton publishes the Principia Mathematica
1735 Carolus Linnaeus publishes the Systema Naturae
1749-1804 Buffon’s 44-volume natural history is published
1789 Lavoisier publishes his Elementary Treatise on Chemistry
1795 James Hutton publishes The Theory of the Earth
MEETING OF THE ACADEMIE ROYALE DES SCIENCES
Part I
OVERVIEW
The seventeenth century saw the introduction of academic societies and academies. This week we will all take on the role of various scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers. As such, we will apply to enter the Academie Royale des Sciences. Some of us will then go on to be interviewed. We will also role play being part of the membership committee and, as such, evaluate the applications, interview, and vote on new members.
Each person is to pretend to be a person from the Scientific Revolution who is trying to gain membership to the Academie Royale des Science. The Academie will be meeting Friday, March 31st, at which time its members will elect five new members. All prospective members must submit FIVE copies of a letter of introduction, a curriculum vitae, and an annotated bibliography at the beginning of class on the 28th.
Please look at the sample letters of introduction and curriculum vitae on the class site.
Everyone will participate in a membership committee to create a short list. We will meet in small groups to read and discuss applications. Each group will be given a list of criteria and, using the list, must choose two applicants to interview.
Those chosen for the short list will be interviewed by the rest of the class. Anyone not being interviewed must come ready to provide at least one general (to ask everyone) and ten specific (for ten different specific interviewees) questions. None of these questions should be for your character. Please collect an index card from me on which to write your questions. Everyone will then vote on who to invite to join the Academie.
Costumes will help make this more realistic. So please come as your character.
LIST OF PROPSPECTIVE MEMBERS:
Francis Bacon - Antich, Jovan
Robert Boyle - Aseves, Marissa
Tycho Brahe - Bhondwe, Khushi
Nicolaus Copernicus - Bonebrake, Donna
Marie Cunitz - Brokemond, Benjamin
René Descartes - Brown, Stuart
Galileo Galilei - Costanzo, Isabella
William Gilbert - Del Real, Angel
Otto Von Guericke - Delatorre, Christian
Edmund Halley - Elue, Malachi
William Harvey - Ermentrout, Kathryn
Elisabetha Hevelius - Huerta, Brendan
Robert Hooke - Jackson, Matthew
Marie Meurdrac - Lozano-Harris, Damani
Johannes Kepler - Martinez, Christian
Antoine Lavoisier - Matziaris, Maria
Anton van Leeuwenhoek - Mendez, Andrea
Wilhelm von Leibniz - Persons, Henry
Carolus Linnaeus - Prokopiv, Ivan
Marin Mersenne - Prugh, Ronan
Isaac Newton - Sanchez, Jesus
Santorio Santoria - Santana, Christian
Willebrord Snellius - Sodini, Jonas
Evangelista Torricelli - Taylor, Hailey
Blaise Pascal - Tymouch, Alexander
Maria Sibylla Merian - Wilkey, Maximilien
Maria Winkelmann
GRADING RUBRIC
Curriculum Vitae (everyone): 15 points
13-15 points: Properly formatted, accurate, and complete.
10-12 points: Minor formatting errors, minor factual errors or omissions.
7-9 points: Major formatting errors or minor factual errors and omissions.
4-7 points: Major formatting errors and either minor factual errors or omissions.
2-3 points: Major formatting errors, minor factual errors, and omissions.
0-1 points: Many major errors.
Annotated Bibliography: 5 points
4-5 points: Three or more sources, including at least one textbook and one non-internet source.
2-3 points: Two or more sources, including at least one textbook.
0-1 points: No textbook, only internet sources.
Letter of Introduction (everyone): 15 points
13-15 points: 1 page in length; accurate, clear, informative, and convincing.
10-12 points: More than one page in length; accurate, clear, informative, and convincing.
7-9 points: Less than one page in length; some errors or unconvincing.
4-6 points: Too long and unfocused or too short and uninformative.
2-3 points: major errors.
0-1 points: totally off topic.
Presentation (short listed): 15 points
13-15 points: Solid command of material, easily and smoothly answers all questions, no inaccuracies.
10-12 points: Solid command of material, answers all questions, minor inaccuracies.
7-9 points: Shaky command of the material, hesitancy, minor errors.
4-6 points: Shaky command of material with errors.
2-3 points: Many errors or gaps of knowledge.
0-1 points: Clearly does not know role.
Questions (not short listed): 15 points
13-15 points: Asks at least one general and ten specific questions; demonstrates an understanding of the assignment, and the Scientific Revolution.
10-12 points: Asks more than one general question and less than ten specific questions; demonstrates an understanding of the assignment and the Scientific Revolution.
7-9 points: Asked questions which demonstrates shaky understanding of the various characters and the Scientific Revolution.
4-6 points: Asked too few questions, which demonstrate shaky understanding of the Scientific Revolution.
1-3 points: Asked too few questions which do not demonstrate an understanding of any aspect of the assignment.
Costume (Friday): 5 points
4-5 points: Wears something evocative of both the period and the person.
2-3 points: Wears something evocative of the period.
0-1 points: Nicely dressed in 21st century garb!
Voting (everyone): 5 points
4-5 points: character is voted into the Academie and own vote is not for self and has solid reasons.
2-3 points: Votes cast are not for self and have solid reasons.
0-1 points: Votes cast for self or for poorly articulated or no reasons.
Part II
MEETING OF THE ACADEMIE ROYALE DES SCIENCES
Step 1 – Everyone will participate in a membership committee to create a short list. We will meet in small groups to read and discuss applications (resumes/cv and introduction letter)
Step 2 – Each group will select TWO scientific revolutionaries that best embody the characteristics below (short list)
Step 3 – forward the names of the revolutionaries selected to the rest of your classmates – my suggestion is to write the names on the back board
Step 4 – Those chosen for the short list will be interviewed by the rest of the class (this Thursday).
Anyone not being interviewed must come ready to provide at least one general (to ask everyone) and ten specific (for ten different specific interviewees) questions. None of these questions should be for your character. Please collect an index card from me on which to write your questions. Everyone will then vote on whom to invite to join the Academie.
The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries changed the way educated people looked at the world. It evolved from the Renaissance’s stress on the importance of the individuals to understand the world around them, and was the key factor that moved Europe from a world view that was primarily religious to one that was primarily secular. Although a more secular society was likely not their goal, Luther and Calvin’s attacks against the authority of the Pope provided a powerful example of how to challenge traditional authority. Their questioning attitudes produced and environment that encouraged the inquiry necessary for science to flourish.
Science in the Middle Ages was designed to help a person reach a better understanding of God and not the world. A medieval scientist would have found it inconceivable to examine the universe outside the realm of religion. During the Renaissance from the 1300’s up until the early 1500’s, science was still considered a branch of religion, and scientific thought held that the earth was a stationary object at the center of the universe. Beginning with Copernicus, however, who taught that the earth revolved around the sun, Europeans began to reject the Aristotelian-medieval scientific thought. Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton developed a new concept of a universe based on natural laws, not a mysterious God.
The new scientific approach promoted critical thinking. Nothing was to be accepted on faith. Belief in miracles and superstition was replaced by reliance on reason and the idea that rational thinking would uncover a plan governing the universe. This critical analysis of everything in society from religion to politics and the optimism that the human mind could find the solution to everything was known as the Enlightenment. 16th and 17th century intellectuals, writers and philosophers were optimistic that they could change society for the better. Writers, such as David Hume and Emil Kant, were primarily interested in teaching people how to think critically about everything, while philosophers, such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot were not revolutionaries but reformers who criticized the existing social, political, and economic structure in order to improve them. They found their hope in Enlightened Despots, or monarchs, the most important of which were Frederick the Great of Prussia, Joseph II of Austria and Catherine the Great of Russia, who would improve the life of their subjects and increase knowledge. However, the reforms of society were not accomplished by these despots, but came instead by the revolutionary forces instrumental in the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century.
Women in Science DBQ