The Scientific Revolution: Toward a New Heaven and New Earth

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms, figures, and concepts from the lecture notes on the Scientific Revolution and early modern science.

Scientific Revolution

A period of major shifts in thinking about the natural world, building on earlier knowledge and leading to a new vision of the universe through observation, reason, and new methods.

Experimental philosophy

Renaissance practice combining reason with prediction and empirical testing, a precursor to modern science.

Hermetic ideas

Esoteric and alchemical notions thought to contribute to early scientific thinking and the pursuit of hidden knowledge.

Copernican heliocentrism

The theory that places the Sun at the center of the universe with Earth and other planets orbiting it.

Geocentric model (Ptolemaic/conception)

The view that Earth is at the center of the universe, with celestial spheres surrounding it.

Tycho Brahe

Danish astronomer whose precise observational data helped challenge geocentric models and informed later theories.

Johannes Kepler

Astronomer who used Brahe’s data to show planets move in elliptical orbits with varying speeds.

Galileo Galilei

Pioneer with the telescope who supported Copernican heliocentrism and observed celestial phenomena; later persecuted by the Church.

Inquisition

Catholic Church court that condemned or restricted beliefs contrary to church doctrine; Galileo was forced to recant.

Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems

Galileo’s 1632 work comparing Ptolemaic and Copernican systems, leading to his arrest and trial.

Isaac Newton

Influential scientist who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation, shaping the Scientific Revolution.

Newton’s First Law (Law of Inertia)

An object at rest stays at rest or in uniform motion unless acted on by a net external force.

Newton’s Second Law

The rate of change of motion is proportional to the force applied (F = ma).

Newton’s Third Law

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Gravity (universal gravitation)

A universal attractive force between all objects, governing planetary and terrestrial motion.

Cartesian dualism

Descartes’ view that mind and matter are separate substances.

Rationalism

Philosophical doctrine that reason is the primary source of knowledge.

René Descartes

French philosopher known for mind–body dualism and establishing rationalism as a foundation of modern philosophy.

Vesalius

Anatomist who promoted practical research and dissection to advance understanding of human anatomy.

William Harvey

Physician who demonstrated the heart as the center of the circulatory system and elaborated on circulation.

Paracelsus

Physician who advanced chemical philosophy and linked disease to chemical imbalances in organs.

Boyle’s Law

The volume of a gas varies inversely with its pressure; early controlled experiments in chemistry.

Lavoisier

Chemist who developed a system for naming chemical elements and helped establish modern chemical nomenclature.

Marie-Anne Paulze (Marie-Anne Lavoisier)

Wife of Lavoisier who translated his findings into English and assisted in his research.

Four humors

Galenic theory that disease arises from imbalance among blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile.

Margaret Cavendish

Prolific female thinker who critiqued exclusive reliance on reason and advocated experimental philosophy.

Maria Merian

Naturalist/entomologist who conducted fieldwork in Suriname and published Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam.

Maria Winkelmann

Astronomer who contributed to the field and discovered a comet.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Early proponent of heliocentrism whose work argued for a sun-centered cosmos.

The telescope

Optical instrument used by Galileo to observe the heavens and gather evidence for heliocentrism.

The Ptolemaic system

Geocentric cosmology with Earth at the center and celestial spheres; widely taught before Copernicus.

The Copernican system

Heliocentric cosmology with the Sun at the center and planets orbiting it.

Observatories

Institutions or locations (e.g., Paris 1667, Greenwich 1675) for systematic astronomical observations.

Principia (Newton)

Newton’s foundational work outlining foundational laws of motion and gravitation.

Spinoza

Philosopher who argued reason is God-given and should be used for spiritual and material life; emphasized unity of mind and world.

Pascal

Thinker who argued that Christianity and science are compatible and that faith can complement reason.

Aristotle

Ancient philosopher whose ideas underpinned early geocentric and natural philosophy.

Ptolemy

Greco-Roman astronomer who developed and popularized the geocentric model with epicycles.

Galen

Ancient physician whose humoral theory influenced medical thinking for centuries.

Quintessence

The fifth element in ancient cosmology believed to fill the celestial spheres.