The Scientific Revolution: Astronomy, Philosophy, and Anatomy

Vocabulary flashcards covering key figures, concepts, and breakthroughs of the Scientific Revolution, including astronomy, anatomy, physics, and scientific philosophy.

Geocentric

Earth-centered planetary motion.

Heliocentric

Sun-centered planetary motion.

Rationalism

A system of thought (associated with Rene) that explains that reason is the best source of knowledge.

Scientific Method

A procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence in an experiment.

Induction Reasoning

Designing and conducting many particular experiments to find and conclude a law.

Empiricism

The theory stating that knowledge is achieved through observation.

Copernicus

Astronomer who believed that planets revolved around the Sun and the Moon revolved around Earth.

Kepler

Astronomer who discovered that orbits around the Sun were not circular but elliptical, with the Sun at the end of the ellipse instead of the center.

Galileo

Scientist who developed the telescope that helped him prove the heliocentric theory introduced by Copernicus.

Newton

Scientist who invented the Universal law of gravitation, which stated that every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by gravity and explained elliptical orbits.

Galen

Early medical authority who relied on animal rather than human dissection to picture human anatomy.

Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey

Anatomists who dissected human bodies, discovering that the heart was the beginning point for the circulation of blood throughout the veins and arteries in a complete circuit.

Blaise Pascal

Scientist who experimented with how liquids behaved under pressure leading to Pascal's law, and who developed the syringe and the hydraulic press.

Robert Boyle's law

A principle stating that the volume of a gas varies with the pressure exerted on it.

Antoine Lavoisier

Chemist who invented a system for naming chemical elements that is still used today.