Scientific Revolution and the Enlightment

Essay by warnerHigh School, 10th gradeA+, February 2005

download word file, 5 pages 0.0

Downloaded 100 times

The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightment showed Europe and the Americas a completely new way of looking at the world around them, which caused people to change their views about the universe. They entered the Enlightment, in which philosophers applied reason to society and government, developed ideas about basic human rights and proper government, and began to consider democratic ideas and concepts of nationalism.

The Scientific Revolution changed the way that the Europeans looked at the world. One way was by Copernicus' heliocentric system, which said that the sun was the center of the universe and all of the planets in the universe, including the Earth, revolved around the sun. Not all agreed with Copernicus' theory because it contradicted the teachings of Ptolemy and the Church. If Ptolemy's reasoning about the planets was wrong, they believed that there would be a question overall on the whole system of human life.

Galileo Galilei proved Copernicus' theory by using technology developed by a Dutch lens grinder to assemble an astronomical telescope. With this telescope, he became the first person to see the mountains on the moon and sunspots. He also saw the four moons of Jupiter moving slowly around the planet - exactly the way Copernicus said that the earth moves around the sun. The Church condemned him because his views challenged the Christian teachings. In 1633, the Inquisition brought Galileo to trail; they threatened him with death unless he withdrew his views, he did so but Galileo muttered, as he was leaving, "Nevertheless, it still moves."

Isaac Newton was a student at Cambridge University in England, by the age of 24 he had developed a theory to explain why the planets moved as they did. In one story, Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell from the tree.