Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Greek philosopher. A pupil of Plato, the tutor of Alexander the Great, and the author of works on logic, metaphysics, ethics, natural sciences, politics, and poetics. Believed in a geocentric model of the universe.
Geocentric Theory
in the Middle Ages, the earth-centered view of the universe in which scholars believed that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe. Adopted from the Greek philosophy of Aristotle because the theory fit within scripture.
Copernicus (1473-1543)
A Polish scientific thinker, first to conceive the heliocentric view of the universe (the sun is center rather than earth). Wrote, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres". S: This thinking was directly opposing church views and as a result, people who supported his views were persecuted.
Heliocentric Model
A representation of the relationship between the Sun and planets in which the planets revolve around the Sun. Copernicus proposed the model.
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Europe's leading 16th-century astronomer who collected tons of data on his observations of the galaxy. S: His data was later used to help prove Copernicus' theory with the help of his assistant, Johannes Kepler.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Brahe's assistant who mathematically proved the Copernican theory and developed three laws of planetary motion. S: Not only did he help to prove the Copernican theory, but his planetary motion laws were a basis for many astronomers in the future.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
16th-century Italian astronomer. developed laws of motion and inertia. S: Validated Copernicus' theory with a telescope, which he was one of the first to use. Galileo's findings were, like Copernicus, controversial to the church.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Formalized empirical method, introduced the inductive method for scientific experimentation. S: His inductive method paired with the deductive reasoning of Descartes made the backbone of the scientific method that even we still use today.
Empiricism
The idea that knowledge comes exclusively through the senses/experiences/observations. S: Was used to help create the inductive method of scientific experimentation and reasoning.
Inductive method
Developed by Francis Bacon. Start with an inductive observation, form a hypothesis, conduct experiments, then organize the collected data. S: Was one of the main ideas in the creation of the modern scientific method.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Scientific thinker, his "Discourse on Method" supported use of the deductive method. S: His work with the deductive method helped in part to form the modern scientific method.
deductive reasoning
Reasoning based on facts and observations; making a hypothesis based off of data or observations. Developed by Descartes. S: Helped form the modern scientific method.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Astronomer and mathematician during the 16th century. Came up with the "Principal of Universal Graviation" which outlines the laws of gravity and motion in our universe. S: His concepts directly challenged Medieval beliefs
Pricipia, 1687
The work of Isaac Newton described his principle of universal gravitation. Everybody in the universe attracts every other body in the universe. S: He used the fact that these laws are unchangeable and predictable to say how God's participation in the world is not necessary to explain the works of nature, directly going against medieval and church views.
Galen
Ancient Greek anatomist whose theories formed the basis of European medicine until the Renaissance (circa 130-200) Believed that the body had four humors blood, phlegm, black bile, yellow bile - which regulated the basic bodily functions, described in terms of temperature, dryness, and moisture
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
rejected the work of Aristotle and Galen and attacked universities. He followed a chemical philosophy that a human was a small replica of the larger world. He used chemical remedies that went for each sickness, He is associated with the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)
Anatomist who wrote, "The Structure of the Human Body" (1543). S: His works renewed and modernized the study of human anatomy.
William Harvey (1578-1657)
Another anatomist studied how blood flows in the body. Wrote, "On the Movement of the Heart and Blood" (1628). S: His works greatly contributed to the study of the body and specifically how blood flows throughout it.
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Irish chemist who established that air has weight and whose definitions of chemical elements and chemical reactions helped to dissociate chemistry from alchemy (1627-1691)
Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794)
Established the law of conservation of mass, determined that combustion and respiration are caused by chemical reactions with what he named "oxygen," Father of Chemistry
French Royal Academy of Sciences
society funded by Louis XIV, which was thought to benefit the king and state and emphasized practical science for new tools and machines
Emilie du Chatelet (1706-1749)
A woman who was educated in the sciences. She was trained as a mathematician and physicist. She helped stimulate interest in science in France by translating Newton's work from Latin to French.
Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673)
educated scientist and astronomer; excluded from English Royal Society, regardless of her many accomplishments; wrote several books contrasting her knowledge with the knowledge of other scientists
Maria Winkelmann (1670-1720)
The most famous of the female astronomers in Germany. Discovered a comet.
Maria Merian (1647-1717)
involved in Scientific Revolution as entomologist; wrote "Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam", which showed drawings of the life cycles of insects on Surinam
Querelles des femmes
"arguments about women." A centuries-old debate about the nature of women that continued during the Scientific Revolution as those who argued for the inferiority of women found additional support in the new anatomy and medicine.