Megan
Nguyen
Dr.
D/Dr. Kuhn
WH
4/ English 1
13
February 2017
Discoveries of the Scientific
Revolution
The history of Europe can be divided into 3
periods: the classical, middle, and the modern period. The middle period, or as
we call the Middle Ages, was the low point the European history. The Black
Death mainly characterized this period. Europe then took a turn when Columbus
sailed to America, and when the Renaissance contributed to Europe with
discoveries of scientific and artistic benefit. Shortly after these events, the
Scientific Revolution occurred in the 15th to 18th century. This particular
event spurred the beginning of the modern period, and the improvement of the
European public compared to the middle Ages. The discoveries during the Scientific
Revolution improved life significantly from the medieval times. All scientists
were important during this event, but astronomers and physicists were the most
prominent.
One of the first events to contribute to the
Scientific Revolution was the Black Death. The Black Death's aftermath
contributed to the study of medicine during the Scientific Revolution. The
rodents in the Asian region spread and caused this disease through the trade
ships. The Black Death took most of Europe, and 1/8 of the population, equaling
to 64 million people (Benedictow). After a while, the disease faded, leaving the
Europeans in shambles. This taught the European public to be more aware of
hygiene and weather protection since the lack of both were the cause of the
disease worsening.
The disease not only spread through Europe, but to
America after a man named Christopher Columbus attempted to sail to India in
the 1490s in order to find goods that were valuable to Europe. Around this
time, Europe had started to lighten up and had taken interest in the Asian
region. When Columbus reached land, he realized later on that this wasn't
India, but rather a new land to discover. The geographers with him graphed the
traveling distance from Spain to this new land and made a groundbreaking
discovery. The Earth was not flat, but round like a sphere
("Chapter"). This was the launch of many other discoveries to
come.
Many of these findings that followed occurred in a
time period in Italy called the Renaissance. This event was a time when artists
expressed their ideas with Europe, and soon the world (Henry). Many important
advances were made during this event, such as the origination of algebra and
geometry. This came along with the invention of the eyeglass and the compass.
Even the number system was rooted to the Renaissance ("Math"). This
period lasted until an astronomical discovery started the Scientific Revolution
in the 1500s.
Astronomy is the main branch of science. It helps
in tracking planetary movements and charting the stars. (Henry) Astronomy was
actually what started the Scientific Revolution. Around the year of 1508, a man
named Nicolaus Copernicus made the first discovery of the Scientific
Revolution. Copernicus was seen "as the last of the great medieval astronomers"
(Henry). He stated that the sun, instead of the Earth, was the center of the
universe. The sun being the center of the universe contributed to the
modern-day solar system. This discovery argued against Ptolemy's geocentric
system and started a chain of discoveries to occur ("Scientific").A
German man who studied astronomy named Tycho Brahe made his own discovery
related to this around the 1540s. See, he was intrigued by the geocentric and
heliocentric systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus. So Brahe's research resulted in
that his system would that be the planets would revolve around both the Sun and
the Earth. Take the moon for example. The small rock would revolve around the
Earth, which orbits the Sun. ("Scientific")
The next astronomer that shared his discovery was
named Galileo Galilei. He was and still is, famous to the scientific world for
his research. One of his famous discoveries happened in 1610 when Galileo used
the telescope to chart the stars. He discovered Jupiter, a planet from far in
the solar system. He also noticed the 4 moons revolving around the gigantic
planet. This proved that Copernicus was right in his findings. That wasn't all,
though. Galileo also found that the moon bore "craters and jagged
mountains." ("Scientific"). This went against Aristotle's
teachings, that the moon had a smooth surface resembling marble. Galileo wrote
his own finding into a pamphlet called the “Starry Messenger”. He sent this
pamphlet to the Catholic Church when he later received a request from the
church to remove his information on the heliocentric system. Galileo was to
remove this information or face harsh punishments.
This was normal in Europe because of a specific
law. Back in the day, any piece of writing or speech that opposed the teachings
of religion would either asked to have that piece removed or be punished by
heresy. Heresy is when a man or woman has opposed a religion with his or her
own opinion. Galileo removed the pamphlet, but the European public had already
read the piece of work (Isaac). They were starting to wonder if religion and
philosophy were all that reliable. A man named Johanne Kepler, who released his
discovery in 1609, cleared their suspicions.
The astronomer was named Johanne Kepler. He was
born in the year of 1571 and died in the year of 1630. This astronomer made two
important discoveries concerning our solar system. First, Kepler created three
laws to describe how our system was in constant motion. These laws were called
The Three Laws of Planetary Motion. Second, Kepler discovered that when the
planets revolve around the sun, they spin on their axis, causing the planets to
tilt when spinning. The laws and discovery not only acknowledged Copernicus's
heliocentric system but also further rejected the fact that "planetary
orbits are perfect spheres" (Badertscher). See, Aristotle stated in the
13th century that when planets orbited the Earth, they spun perfectly like
tops, never tilted. (“Scientific”) Soon after the axis, Isaac Newton, a famous
scientist, made one of the best discoveries in the history of Physics.
Physics is the study of matter and how it works to
fit in our universe. Two scientists, who were physicists, stood out during this
period because of what they had to offer to the European public. One of the
physicists' names was Isaac Newton, who was born in 1642 and died in 1727. As a
child, Newton was a farmer. And during his childhood, he neglected his work.
Despite his early occupation, Newton was always more interested in the outside
world and how it worked. Then around his middle years, Newton made a law called
the Law of Gravitation. This law described how individuals were so heavy while
feathers were so light. Specifically, the Law of Gravitation told of how weight
exists on Earth, and how it works with objects. ("Scientific") Newton
also contributed to the Atomic Theory. He stated that atoms were hardened
particles that made up solidified objects. The theory was similar to Dalton's
theory. But unlike Dalton, Newton incorporated God into his theory, saying that
God was an above all atomic organism that he didn't need atoms to make up his
being. ("Newton")
The main man who made the atomic theory, though,
was John Dalton, though he was the least likely man to do so. He was born in
the year of 1766 in Northwest England. He was self-taught during his childhood,
and later on a high school teacher in Manchester, England. Then Dalton started
to think about how the atmosphere worked. With further research, he discovered
that the air we breathe is a chemical compound. When he thought of this idea,
he knew that water vapor could not be combined chemically with the gasses in
the air (John). That's when Dalton discovered these small, shelled spheres. He
decided to name these spheres atoms. Scientists continued to explore atoms and their
behavior to various experiments.
Of course, astronomy and physics weren't the only
science fields to explore. There were other scientists that contributed to the
Scientific Revolution. And although some of the scientists were considered
minor, their discoveries were just as great as Galileo and Copernicus. One
these scientists happened to inspire the first vaccine in the world. His name
was Harvey Williams. Williams was born in 1578 and died on 1657. He discovered
blood circulation; specifically, that blood is pumped throughout the human body
since the heart is doing so. A century after his discovery reached the public,
heads turned to the Africans and Turkish "purposefully exposing
individuals to mild strains of smallpox to achieve inoculation", or vaccination
("Medicine"). Intrigued by the foreign methods, the Europeans
tried the methods and made the world's first vaccine. This vaccine was made to
fight off smallpox, and smallpox soon became known as the first man killed
disease. A better finding, however, went deeper into blood, for three men
invented the compound microscope shortly after smallpox was
eradicated.
One of the men's names was Zacharias Jensen, born
in 1588, to die in 1631. He was one of the men to make the men made the
compound microscope. The two other men were Hans Jansen and Hans Lippershey. The invention made by these
men helped with the phase contrast of the microscope, meaning that you can see
the difference between a blurry and clear image of the object within the lens.
All three of these men were optometrists, meaning they studied eyes for any
weird reactions or anything out of the ordinary (“Invention”). But unlike these
men, another scientist, an expert in optics, made a machine to measure a
compound.
The next great discovery came from an Italian
mathematician named Evangelista Torricelli. He was born in the year of 1608 and
died in the year of 1647. On the year of 1643, Torricelli invented the machine
that measured air pressure. This machine was called the barometer. Another man
named Vayhinger tried to copy Torricelli's
work but failed. Vayhinger's barometer was filled with
water instead of mercury, so instead of working the barometer malfunctioned
(Frey).
One of the last scientists to contribute to the
Scientific Revolution was a German geographer named Alexander von Humboldt.
This geographer was born on 1769, and died on 1859, around the end of the
Scientific Revolution. Around the late 1700s, Humboldt came back from his
travels to make a new type of map. He used natural philosophy and the science
to map out the locations of vegetation, climate, and population around the
world (Nougayrede).
The Scientific Revolution was the main highlight
of Europe because the discoveries of the astronomical, physical, and other scientists
gave way for Europe's modern period. The events during that time expressed
ideas of the artistic and the economic. One event even led Europe to discover
America. Lastly, when the scientists gave their information out, the European
public observed and believed in that information. This event in Europe helped
improve information not only in Europe but in other areas too. The Scientific
Revolution was truly a period of knowledge.
Work Cited
Badertscher, Eric. "Johannes
Kepler." Johannes Kepler (2006): 1-2. History
Reference Center. Web. 27 Jan. 2017.
Benedictow, Ole J. "The Black
Death." History Today 55.3 (2005): 42-49. History
Reference Center. Web. 9 Jan.
2017.
"Chapter
IV: The New Cosmology--Copernicus To Kepler And Galileo." History Of
Science, Volume 2 (2006): 26-43. History
Reference Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
Frey,
Dennis A. "Wealth, Consumerism, And Culture Among The Artisans Of Göppingen: Dynamism And Tradition In An
Eighteenth-Century Hometown." Central European History (Cambridge
University Press / UK) 46.4 (2013): 741-778. History Reference Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
Henry,
John. "Scientific Revolution." Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of
the Early Modern World, edited by Jonathan Dewald, vol. 5, Charles Scribner's
Sons, 2004, pp. 343-352. World History in
Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3404901020/WHIC?u=lap17ehs&xid=5aa8e8b7.
Accessed 20 Jan. 2017.
"The
Invention of the Microscope." Science and Its Times, edited by Neil
Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 3, Gale, 2001. World History in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CV2643450269/WHIC?u=lap17ehs&xid=d5043c01.
Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"Isaac
Newton: Organizing The Universe." Isaac Newton: Organizing The Universe (2004):
10-39. History Reference Center. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
"John
Dalton Proposes His Atomic Theory and Lays the Foundation of Modern
Chemistry." Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer,
vol. 5, Gale, 2001. World History
in Context, link.galegroup. com/ apps / doc /CV2643450512/WHIC?u=lap17ehs&xid=989e3299.
Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"Math
In The Middle Ages (400-1450) And Renaissance (1450-1600S)." Math Through
the Ages: Making Sense of it All. 20. n.p.: Allosaurus Publishers, 2008. Science Reference Center. Web. 28 Jan.
2017.
"Medicine."
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 5,
Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 63-65. World
History in Context, link.galegroup. com/apps/doc/CX3045301506/WHIC? u=lap17ehs&xid=4c5d9ae5.
Accessed 29 Jan. 2017.
Newton.
"Modern History Sourcebook: Issac Newton: Optics." Fordham University,
legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/newton-optics.asp. (Primary
Source)
Nougayrède, René, and Kenneth T. LaPensee. "Earth Science:
Geography." Scientific Thought: In Context, edited by K. Lee Lerner and
Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, vol. 2, Gale, 2009, pp. 681-685. In Context Series.World History in Context,
link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3058900093/WHIC?u=lap17ehs&xid=25c5931d.
Accessed 30 Jan. 2017.
"Scientific
Revolution." Britannica School., Episcopal High School,
school.eb.com/levels/high/article/108653#32542.toc.
Willis,
Robert. Of the Motion of the Heart and the blood in the animals. Fordham
University. Fordham University, legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/
1628harvey-blood.asp.
Manuscript. (Primary Source)
No comments:
Post a Comment