the scientific revolution and the royal society

what was the scientific revolution?

* the renaissance focused on rediscovering the achievements of the ancient world.
* by the 1600s there was more focus on a scientific approach to knowledge sparking a new period called the Scientific Revolution

who were key scientists?

* Galileo - Italian astronomer, physicists engineer, philosopher and mathematician.
* William Harvey - English physician, first person to describe how the blood is pumped through the body by the heart
* Isaac Newton - gravity

what was the essential idea of the scientific revolution?

* scientific knowledge builds upon itself
* therefore knowledge and scientific understanding advanced steadily to make possible new laws and intentions.
* Francis Bacon - ‘knowledge is power’

what was view on the Francis Bacon experimental method?

* he argued that scientific knowledge should be based on observation - founder of empiricism
* Bacon argued that a sceptical and methodical approach should be adopted as part of scientific observation.
* this inspired leading scientists such as the founders of the Royal Society

what was the importance of science?

* historians have shown the importance of the 1640s and 1650s in the history of science and its acceptance by intellectual society.

membership of the royal society?

* derived from the elite and professional class, indicating the acceptance of science among the political class,, indicating the acceptance of science among the political class.
* in order to attract members and funding, the meetings of the Society became a place for public demonstration of exciting science.