Toward a New World View The Scientific Revolution.

Toward a New World View

The Scientific Revolution

Introduction

There were profound changes in the world-view of Europeans in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

The primary cause was the Scientific Revolution.

Introduction

The most profound change in human history?

Introduction

Intellectuals in this era differed from their predecessors by combining mathematics and experiment.

Introduction

The Aristotelian-Ptolemaic Universe Geocentric/Earth

Centered

Introduction

Sublunar world 4 Elements:

Earth, water; fire, air.

Uniform force moved objects until something stopped it.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

Polish monk. Observed

patterns of star and planet movement.

On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies (1543)


Heliocentrism


Called into question the literal truth of the Scriptures.

Copernicus waited to publish his findings.

The Heliocentric (Copernican) Universe


Niccolo Tartaglia was the first to apply mathematics to the investigation of the trajectory of cannonballs.

His work was later validated by Galileo's studies on falling bodies.


Tyco Brahe was a Danish nobleman who set the stage for modern astronomy by building an observatory and collecting data.

He was known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations.

Francis Bacon (1561—1626)

1604 – Appointed King’s Counsel. 1607 – Named Solicitor General. 1608 – Appointed Clerk of the Star

Chamber. 1613 – Appointed Attorney General. 1616 – Made a member of the Privy

Council. 1617 – Appointed Lord Keeper of

the Royal Seal (his father’s former office).

1618 – Made Lord Chancellor.

The New Organon

New Organon (or “True Directions concerning the Interpretation of Nature”). The Greek word organon means “instrument” or “tool.”

The title also glances at Aristotle’s Organon and thus suggests a “new instrument” destined to transcend or replace the older, no longer serviceable one.

The New Organon is presented not in the form of a treatise or methodical demonstration but as a series of aphorisms.

The Four Idols

The Idols of the tribe The idols of the cave The idols of the marketplace The idols of the theatre

The idols of the tribe

These are the natural weaknesses and tendencies common to human nature. Because they are innate, they cannot be completely eliminated, but only recognized and compensated for. Some of Bacon’s examples are:Our senses – which are inherently dull and easily deceivable. (Which is why Bacon prescribes instruments and strict investigative methods to correct them.)Our tendency to discern (or even impose) more order in phenomena than is actually there. As Bacon points out, we are apt to find similitude where there is actually singularity, regularity where there is actually randomness, etc.Our tendency towards “wishful thinking.” According to Bacon, we have a natural inclination to accept, believe, and even prove what we would prefer to be true.Our tendency to rush to conclusions and make premature judgments (instead of gradually and painstakingly accumulating evidence).

Idols of the Cave

Unlike the idols of the tribe, those of the cave vary from individual to individual. They arise, not from nature but from culture and thus reflect the peculiar distortions, prejudices, and beliefs that we are all subject to owing to our different family backgrounds, childhood experiences, education, training, gender, religion, social class, etc. Special allegiance to a particular discipline or theory.High esteem for a few select authorities.A “cookie-cutter” mentality – that is, a tendency to reduce or confine phenomena within the terms of our own narrow training or discipline.

The Idols of the Marketplace

These are hindrances to clear thinking that arise, Bacon says, from the “intercourse and association of men with each other.” The main culprit here is language, though not just common speech, but also the special discourses, vocabularies, and jargons of various academic communities and disciplines.

He points out that “the idols imposed by words on the understanding are of two kinds”: “they are either names of things that do not exist” (e.g., the crystalline spheres of Aristotelian cosmology) or faulty, vague, or misleading names for things that do exist (according to Bacon, abstract qualities and value terms – e.g., “moist,” “useful,” etc. – can be a particular source of confusion).

The idols of the theatre

Like the idols of the cave, those of the theatre are culturally acquired rather than innate. These idols derive mainly from grand schemes or systems of philosophy – and especially from three particular types of philosophy:Sophistical Philosophy – that is, philosophical systems based only on a few casually observed instances and thus constructed mainly out of abstract argument and speculation. Empirical Philosophy – that is, a philosophical system ultimately based on a single key insight, which is then erected into a model or paradigm to explain phenomena of all kinds. Bacon cites the example of William Gilbert, whose experiments with the lodestone persuaded him that magnetism operated as the hidden force behind virtually all earthly phenomena.Superstitious Philosophy – this is Bacon’s phrase for any system of thought that mixes theology and philosophy. He cites Pythagoras and Plato.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Italian scientist.

Improved the telescope.

Formulated Laws of Motion and Inertia.


Proved the Copernican view of the universe. Moon Planets Stars Sunspots

Wrote in the vernacular.

Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany (1615)

Written to address the conflict between the Bible and heliocentric theory.

Argued that the Bible must be interpreted in light of scientific knowledge.

Argued for a non-literal interpretation of the Bible.

Galileo declared the Bible teaches how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.

The letter began Galileo’s troubles with the Church.

The Scientific Revolution 1633 – Church arrested Galileo and charged him with heresy. He was forced to recant and was placed under house arrest.


Johannes Kepler formulated three laws of planetary motion that proved the relationship between the planets in a sun-centered solar system.

René Descartes (1596-1650)

French mathematician and philosopher.

A transitional figure between the medieval past and modern science.


A rationalist. Promoter of

deductive reasoning, predicting particular results from general principles.

Discourse on Method (1637)

Descartes wished to develop a method that could be used to yield scientific truth.

Argued that abstract reasoning and math were a more reliable path to truth; our senses could deceive us.

Cogito ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”)


Isaac Newton integrated the astronomy of Copernicus and Kepler with the physics of Galileo.

Prinicipia Mathematica 1687

Newton formulated a set of mathematical laws to explain motion and mechanics.

A key feature was the law of universal gravitation.


Contributions made by these scientists made the universe comprehensible for the first time.

Toward a New World View The Scientific Revolution.

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