History of The Scientific Revolution Free Essay Example

The Scientific Revolution happened in Europe that started in 1550 and ended in 1700. This revolution was a point in time where everything physical was changing . There were changes in thought, belief, social and institutional organization. Due to all of this change everywhere scientists were trying to see if any of this was true, that is why much of everything was also changing. Since the Revolution started, there were many developments in many things. Such as, physics, biology ( both animals and human ), mathematics, astronomy, and chemistry.

The reason why there was so much improvement in everything is because people wanted to prove that their theory about something in the world was true.

One circumstance that led to the scientific revolution were all of the questions being asked at in this era. “Renaissance encouraged curiosity, investigation, discovery, modern day knowledge. Caused people to question old beliefs”, (Quizlet). Scientists asking many questions about the world is what kicked off the start of the Scientific Revolution.

The more they asked questions, the more they believed it or denied it. Since scientists started to believe/deny these questions some of them actually wanted to prove that it was right/wrong. Another reason why the scientific revolution started is because of Nicolaus Copernicus. “Nicolaus’ Copernicus’ publication in the early 1500s that proposed the sun, not the earth, was at the center of the universe. This sparked debate and further intellectual exploration in medicine, mathematics, physics and astrology, which is why it became a revolution”, (Study.com). Since Nicolaus Copernicus claimed that this was true, scientists around him started to question their belief.

In addition to this, when scientist started to try to answer questions or prove claims a change in every field happened. Such as medicine, mathematics, physics and astrology. Because of everything changing, the Scientific Revolution started.

The critical turning point that happened during the Scientific Revolution was scientists doing so many experiments so they can prove their theory but also some of them being disrespected while others weren’t. The most known scientists that were involved in this revolution was Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei. Galileo was a well known scientist during the Scientific Revolution, “He invented an improved telescope that let him observe and describe the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, sunspots and the rugged lunar surface. His flair for self-promotion earned him powerful friends among Italy’s ruling elite and enemies among the Catholic Church’s leaders. His advocacy of a heliocentric universe brought him before religious authorities in 1616 and again in 1633, when he was forced to recant and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life” ( History.com ). During the era of the renaissances, many things still wasn’t discovered which meant that the people made up their own idea of it and stick with it. This was a problem for most scientists like Galileo, he would find an answer to something that was wrong and once he tried to make other people believe it, he got put in jail. Galileo was a brilliant scientist, and he found the real answer to a lot of his hypothesis and to everyday necessities. However, the main “problem” with his story is that he found many answers to things that people didn’t know the answer too or to the things that they knew the answer to. During this time if someone seemed crazy they put them in jail, and that is what happened to Galileo until his friend proved that he was right and got him out. The story of Isaac Newton is similar but also different from Galileo’s, “ Years of research culminated with the 1687 publication of “Principia,” a landmark work that established the universal laws of motion and gravity. Newton’s second major book, “Opticks,” detailed his experiments to determine the properties of light” ( History.com ). During the Scientific Revolution, what Newton did was to figure out how the world actually works. The way how Newton’s story is similar to Galileo’s is because they both did many experiments that led to them finding the right answer to what they are looking for. Isaac Newton had a lot of trial and errors before he found what he was looking for which was the laws of motion and gravity and also the properties of light. The way that his story is different from Galileo’s is how Newton’s findings were accepted within the community and around the world but Galileo’s was not. When Isaac Newton found the answers to everything that he was looking for people believed him right away and didn’t even question it, they were convinced. However, when Galileo was trying to prove that what all of his experiments showed were true, no one believed him and so they punished him for “making things up”.

During the Scientific Revolution many scientists had theories that they wanted to know the answer to and because of this many world issues were solved. Johannes Kepler was an astronomer and he had many theories that he wanted to prove. What Kepler proved was that “ the planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus” ( Robert S. Westman ). Kepler had to do many things so he can prove this. What Kepler had to do to find this out was to do many trial and errors. Once he found this out he found an answer to how day and night works for the world. Another scientists that helped out the world was William Harvey. William Harvey was a physician that discovered “ the full circulation of the blood in the human body” ( Andrew Gregory ). The result of him solving this problem was that he now knows what can happen to the human body when something is wrong with the blood circulation. His findings can benefit everyone in the world, this is because after this there can be people who can create medicines that can help with any problem with their blood. Overall, anything that the scientists discovered changed the world forever because the world then will know how the world wars even more.

The result of the Scientific Revolution was everything in the world changing because of the new discoveries. Galileo’s discoveries were “ He began to experiment with telescope-making, going so far as to grind and polish his own lenses. His telescope allowed him to see with a magnification of eight or nine times” ( Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor). With Galileo’s new discovery/invention of the new version of the telescope helped better the world because people can now see space very clearly. With this he can many other people can now see how the things around the earth works. In addition to this, many people can learn how the earth and how the world outside function. The discoveries that Tycho Brahe made was “ The instruments of Brahe allowed him to determine more precisely than had been possible the detailed motions of the planets” ( The Observations of Tycho Brahe ) . Tycho Brahe was an astronomer that figured out many things. One main thing that he discovered was of course, instruments that can help him look at the planets. Brahe wanted to understand how the planets besides earth work and just understand the basics of them. Much of the effects from the turning points of the Scientific Revolution made great things that benefited the whole world.

During the Scientific Revolution there were many things that were invented because of it. Some scientists made things to help them with their experiments such as in 1593,” Galileo Galilei invented the first thermometer…” ( Hadley Raymond and Alexis LaPia ). The revolution brought many new things to the world, like the thermometer. Galileo needed to build the thermometer so his experiments can be more complex and so he can test out more of his hypothesis. The main reason why GAlileo built the thermometer is because he needed something to measure heat in celsius. The thermometer helped out more people than just him, it helped out most of the population. Many people used the thermometer to measure ones temperature to see if they have a fever or not. It is also used to measure the temperature of a room or of the outside. In the same website it states, that in 1595 “Zacharias Jensen, a dutch inventor who created the first microscope” ( Hadley Raymond and Alexis LaPia ). The microscope helped to look at the atoms in everything. Having a microscope will help you understand the very things that make up the earth. The microscope is used in mainly in the scientific field. Without the Scientific Revolution the microscope would have never been made. Both of these inventions and then many others that were made during the Scientific Revolution were very beneficial to the world.

The Scientific Revolution, affected many things that one of those things was military. The Scientific Revolution was mainly in Europe, “The Scientific Revolution would make Europeans the most powerful peoples in the world…Innovations in military machines and tactics made Europeans a force to be reckoned with” ( In Depth Info.com ). Since the Scientific Revolution was mainly in Europe, it made it gave it more power. The way that this revolution actually affected the military was how it made it stronger. With all of the new things that are being discovered, it is benefitting the military by making new technology and chemicals that they can use to defend themselves. Another way that the Scientific Revolution benefited the military was how,“ In the twentieth century, three important sciencebased innovations led to significant technological progress, but also to new military options: (1) nuclear technology, (2) biotechnology, and (3) information and communication technologies (ICTs)” ( GöTZ NEUNECK ). With these new chemicals that are being made, it is making the military stronger. Many scientists were trying to find out what they can do to benefit their own country. Militaries benefited a lot from the Scientific Revolution, they benefited by having new things to work on that helps them win any war.

The Scientific Revolution helped discover new things in the field of medicine. During the Scientific Revolution, the human body was being discovered, “For example Galen(130-201), had did just that. He concluded that the key to his system, was the that the human body has four humors, blood, black bile, phlegm, and choler” ( Western Civilization II Guides ). Since the Revolution started, many people in the medical field started to question things about the human body. Galen was one of those curious people during this era that wanted to know more about the human body and he did. This is a benefit that came out of the Scientific Revolution. Finding out more about the human body was really beneficial because people will then know what is wrong in the body when something happens. On the same website, it said, “ He also concluded that there are two types of blood in the human body. One of them supplied nutrients from the liver to the veins throughout the whole body. The other one vivified the body by flowing through your arteries” ( Western Civilization II Guides ). Since there was so many new things that was being learned about the body many people were surprised and excited. One other things that Galen found out was that there are two types of blood in the body and they have different functions. Having learned all of this new information, Galen and other people in the medical field now know, specifically, what goes on in the body and if something happens in the body, for example having the flu, people in the medical field will already know what to do. All of this is because of the Scientific Revolution.

In conclusion, there were ups and downs during the Scientific Revolution. Scientists were considered either crazy or amazing. Scientists had to do many experiments to prove their hypothesis, and to execute their experiment they had to built new things that benefitted them and later on benefitted the whole world. It was because of this revolution that the world became what it is now. The Scientific Revolution changed many things such as, mathematics, biology, chemistry, astronomy. Overall, the Scientific Revolution changed everything that people once knew.