-The Scientific Revolution and -The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment-Enlightenment-

I. Challenging Old Ideas

A. The Scientific Revolution involved challenges to the traditional way of understanding the universe

B. These ideas were controversial because they challenged accepted truths, respected ancient scientists and the Roman Catholic Church

-The Scientific Revolution--The Scientific Revolution-

II. Two Theories of the Universe

A. The Geocentric Theory envisioned an earth-centered universe

1. This idea was first proposed by Aristotle

2. It was later supported by Ptolemy

B. The Heliocentric Theory envisioned a sun-centered universe

1. This idea was proposed by a Polish astronomer, Nicoloaus Copernicus, during the Renaissance

2. It was supported by the Italian astronomer, Galileo

C. The Catholic Church supported the Geocentric Theory because it was consistent with religious doctrine that god had made the earth a special place in the universe

1. For 1,500 years, the Church supported almost all of Aristotle’s scientific theories as fact

III. Conflict Over the Theories

A. Copernicus was so fearful of being considered a heretic that he waited until the last year of his life to publish his theory

1. However, his ideas spread despite Church condemnation and were eventually embraced by others

B. Galileo used the telescope (which he invented) to study the movement of the planets and published works supporting Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory

1. Catholic clergy members had Galileo brought before the Inquisition where he was forced to recant his findings under threat of excommunication and torture

2. Despite his public recant of his theory, Church officials placed Galileo under house arrest for the rest of his life in an attempt to silence him

IV. Scientific Discoveries Validate the Heliocentric Theory

A. The later findings of Johannes Kepler, a Danish mathematician, used data to prove the Heliocentric Theory

1. He also discovered that planets have elliptical (not circular) orbits around the sun

B. Sir Isaac Newton was the pioneer of modern physics

1. He was an English scientist who developed the law of gravity to

explain the movement of the planets

a. This further confirmed the Heliocentric Theory

2. His theories asserted that all celestial bodies are attracted to each other by an invisible force directly related to the mass of the object

3. Newton believed that god had designed the universe like a giant clock, with gravity dominating its motions

V. The Scientific Method

A. The scientific approach used by Copernicus and Galileo eventually turned into a new approach to science called the “Scientific Method”

B. The Scientific Method involves the following steps:

1. Developing a question

2. Forming a hypothesis

3. Testing the hypothesis through experiments

4. Analysis of data

5. Forming a conclusion

C. This method was championed by Francis Bacon

1. He was an English writer who felt that scholars had assumed Aristotle’s teachings to be truth without testing them

2. He emphasized the need for experimentation over simple observation in arriving at conclusions

VI. What Does it all Mean?

A. Like the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution saw the proposal of many new ideas and techniques that challenged traditional thinking

B. This set the stage for the Enlightenment, a political movement of the 1600s and 1700s which involved political theorists questioning

traditional beliefs about government

-The Enlightenment--The Enlightenment-I. Pre-Enlightenment English Philosophers

A. Even before the Enlightenment in France, two English philosophers were already publishing political theories about politics in the 1600s

B. Thomas Hobbes wrote “The Leviathan”

1. He argued that human beings are violent by nature

a. Life in nature is “Nasty, brutish, and short”

2. People must form a contract with a ruler who will have total power and keep order

3. He believed that the best form of government is an absolute monarchy, because individual freedoms lead to chaos

C. John Locke wrote “Two Treatises on Government”

1. He argued that human beings are born basically neutral, like a

“blank slate” or a “Tabula Rasa”

2. People form a contract with a ruler, but they have the “natural rights” of life, liberty, and property

3. If the leader is a tyrant and breaks the social contract, subjects have the right to rebel

II. The Enlightenment in France

A. The Enlightenment was a political movement that originated in France during the mid-1700s

1. It focused mainly on politics and society and involved the writing of many French political writers and philosophers known

as the “Philosophes”

2. These ideas challenged the concept of absolute monarchy

3. Many of the ideas would later be the basis of rebellion in the French Revolution

III. Key Enlightenment Thinkers

A. Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote “The Social Contract”

1. He believed human beings are good and kind in nature

a. People are naturally “noble savages”

2. Society corrupts individuals

a. “Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains”

3. People form a social contract with each other, and must respect the “general will”, or majority rule

a. Democracy is the best form of government

4. People have the right to rebel if their natural rights are taken away

B. Voltaire

1. People are endowed with the natural right of freedom of speech

a. “I may not agree with a word you say, but I will

defend to the death your right to say it”

2. He favored an enlightened monarch who respects the rights of the people

C. Baron de Montesquieu wrote “On the Spirit of Laws”

1. The best model of government is one with multiple branches where power is divided

2. These branches also should have checks and balances to limit one another

3. He admired the English system of government which already had this system in place