Once it is understood that the Renaissance was a period of rebirth of classical culture after dark times, one would understand why this period would transition into a Scientific Revolution. With renewed vigor in the arts and a need for explanations, people used science to try to find answers to their new questions whether it was about our world or the universe around us.
Of course, with new discoveries being made by scientists, the old theocentric views of the Medieval period slowly were challenged and put at rest. Specifically, beginning with Copernicus’ “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” the idea that the universe is geocentric is directly challenged with the new theory: the universe is heliocentric. Later, this theory became …show more content…
He ended up proving Copernicus’ heliocentric universe theory to be true, and using his own improved telescope, he discovered a pockmarked, imperfect moon. It was this discovery under which the Medieval idea of a perfect, finite universe fell apart.
Though these statements by these scientists helped shape our world views significantly today, the one that impacted our understanding of the world and how it works the most, in my opinion, was Newton. He discovered the concept of gravity and was able to pull together the universe with his unchanging laws. He also did not go against the church; he only modified their beliefs to fit with his scientific discoveries.
Newton was incredibly important to society for many reasons other than just his understanding of gravity, but one cannot forget about the importance of others like Bacon and Descartes. Their work, combined, created the basis for our scientific method today. While Bacon was all for inductive reasoning (and was completely opposed of its deductive counterpart), Descartes only deduced and never tested theories. Descartes was the one to bring about the Enlightenment of the next period. Called the father of the Enlightenment, he put a final end to the Medieval views and taught people to reason and think for themselves. Harmonizing religion with science, it was the perfect situation for the Enlightenment that followed the Scientific
Of course, with new discoveries being made by scientists, the old theocentric views of the Medieval period slowly were challenged and put at rest. Specifically, beginning with Copernicus’ “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” the idea that the universe is geocentric is directly challenged with the new theory: the universe is heliocentric. Later, this theory became …show more content…
He ended up proving Copernicus’ heliocentric universe theory to be true, and using his own improved telescope, he discovered a pockmarked, imperfect moon. It was this discovery under which the Medieval idea of a perfect, finite universe fell apart.
Though these statements by these scientists helped shape our world views significantly today, the one that impacted our understanding of the world and how it works the most, in my opinion, was Newton. He discovered the concept of gravity and was able to pull together the universe with his unchanging laws. He also did not go against the church; he only modified their beliefs to fit with his scientific discoveries.
Newton was incredibly important to society for many reasons other than just his understanding of gravity, but one cannot forget about the importance of others like Bacon and Descartes. Their work, combined, created the basis for our scientific method today. While Bacon was all for inductive reasoning (and was completely opposed of its deductive counterpart), Descartes only deduced and never tested theories. Descartes was the one to bring about the Enlightenment of the next period. Called the father of the Enlightenment, he put a final end to the Medieval views and taught people to reason and think for themselves. Harmonizing religion with science, it was the perfect situation for the Enlightenment that followed the Scientific