The Scientific Revolution

René Descartes	Nicholaus Copernicus	Isaac Newton

· How is the Scientific Revolution the decisive break with medieval culture? What forces in Western culture promoted it?

· What do we mean by a “language of science”?

· Who were some of the key figures associated with the Scientific Revolution?

Key Terms

1) epistemology

2) Royal Society and Academy of Sciences

3) Francis Bacon (inductive reasoning)

4) René Descartes (deductive reasoning)

5) Discourse on Method

6) Copernicus and On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres

I. Meaning for Western Culture and Historical Causes

· New Means of Establishing Truth vs. Medieval Truth

· Critique of Science and Western Identity

· Historical Roots:

o Judeo-Christian

o Greek Tradition

o Renaissance

o Reformation

o New Skepticism

· Wealth and States: The Royal Society (1662) and the Academy of Science (1666)

II. Toward a New Epistemology: The Language of Science

· Francis Bacon (1561-1626): Empiricism, Inductive Reasoning

o Novum Organum

· René Descartes: Math, Dualism, and Deductive Reasoning

o The Discourse on Method

· Human Agency and Science

III. Key Figures in The Scientific Revolution

· Nicholaus Copernicus (1473-1543): On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres

· Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

· Galileo Galilei (1564-1642): Telescopes and Conflict with the Church

· Isaac Newton (1643-1727): Universal Laws of Motion and the New Religion