Darwin’s Tea Party: The Scientific Revolution

1. Darwin’s Tea Party: The Scientific Revolution

2. The Scientific Revolution The Scientific Revolution is a revolution in thought which established modern science as a powerful new way to understand reality.

3. The Scientific Revolution The revolution occurs in three phases: Phase I: 17th-18th c: In astronomy, physics & mathematics (heliocentric theory, laws of motion, invention of the calculus) Phase II: 19th c: In chemistry and biology (atomic theory, evolution by natural selection) Phase III: 19th-20th c: In the social sciences

4. The Scientific Revolution This presentation deals only with Phase I: 17th-18th c: In astronomy, physics & mathematics (heliocentric theory, laws of motion, invention of the calculus)

5. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory • Before the Scientific Revolution, the accepted view was that the earth was the centre of the universe. • This is called the geocentric theory

6. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory The Biblical Conception of the universe 1. Waters above the firmament2. Storehouses of snows3. Storehouses for hail4. Chambers of winds5. Firmament6. Sluice / windows of heaven7. Pillars of the sky8. Pillars of the earth9. Fountain of the deep10. Navel of the earth11. Waters under the earth12. Rivers of the nether world A view of the universe as understood in the Old Testament and influenced by the ancient Babylonians. A flat earth supports pillars which support the heavens and the waters above. Below the earth is Sheol – the domain of the dead – and the water below the earth.

7. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I Before The Heliocentric Theory • The geocentric theory corresponded to common sense, in that it did appear that the sun, moon and stars revolved around the earth. • Don’t we still say that the sun “rises” and “sets” ever day?

8. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I Before The Heliocentric Theory • The geocentric theory also seemed correspond to the Biblical view of the universe – at least according to the Catholic Church at the time. • Humans, as the “center” of God’s creation lived on a planet that was also the center of the universe.

9. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I Before The Heliocentric Theory Even the Protestant Churches maintained the geocentric view as the frontispiece of Martin Luther’s translations shows

10. Note how God looks down on an earth which is the center of the universe • The sun, moon and stars are pictured above the earth • The “waters above” the earth are also shown here. In the Genesis flood story these were said to have opened up and flooded the earth.

11. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I Before The Heliocentric Theory • Equally important, the ancient Greeks also accepted a geocentric theory. • This included Aristotle and the key Greek geographer and astronomer, Ptolemy (c. 100- c.178)

12. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I Before The Heliocentric Theory One geocentric universe, please – all dressed. Claudius Ptolemy (c.100-c.178)

13. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory Part of Ptolemy’s Almagest in Arabic. This shows the movement of a planet, including retrograde motion, cycles and epicycles

14. Ptolemy’s Universe Note the earth in the center, with the moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars and Jupiter and Saturn above. Next comes the fixed stars and constellations (signs of the Zodiac). Finally at the very top is the highest heavens, home of the “Primum Mobile” (the First Cause)

15. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory • Thus the geocentric theory was supported by religion, by the ancient Greeks and by common sense. • Despite all this, it was overturned and replaced by the heliocentric theory in the modern period.

16. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory • One reason was that geocentrically based calculations and predictions of where the stars and planets were, were getting increasingly wrong since Ptolemy’s time!

17. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IBefore The Heliocentric Theory Finally, in the 15th century, a Polish astronomer by the name of Copernicus stated that things would be much simpler if only we assumed that the sun, not the earth, was at the center of the universe. Note how I can do compass points without even looking at my book Nicholaus Copernicus (1473-1543). Note the sun like wand with the sun in the center, of course. In his left hand are chopsticks, which he also invented.

18. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory • In other words, Copernicus proposed the Heliocentric Theory. • Chart of the heliocentric theory from Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus (1543).

19. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory In Italy, another natural philosopher would soon confirm Copernicus heliocentric view of the universe.

20. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

21. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory The book that got Galileo in trouble: Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. In the book, the geocentric theory is presented by a character called Simplicio (“simple-minded”) – not exactly a flattering way to present the Church’s favoured theory!

22. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory • Moon drawings by Galileo • Lunar cracks (craters), mountains and valleys were disturbing indications that all was not as perfect and incorruptible in the heavenly spheres, as Aristotle’s theory assumed.

23. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Galileo pioneered the use of the telescope for astronomical purposes.

24. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Galileo pioneered the experimental method Galileo’s famous experiment supposedly made from the leaning tower of Pisa. Here two balls of different mass are dropped at the same time; which will land first? The next, even more famous experiment, compares the fall of 1 kilo of feathers and 1 kilo of bricks; which will land first?

25. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Galileo spacecraft named after guess who and crashed into Jupiter in 1995.

26. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Galileo got in trouble with the Catholic Church for backing the heliocentric theory.

27. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory Sign here and you get a free I-pod! Galileo’s trial according to a 19th century artist

28. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Heliocentric Theory • Galileo was placed under house arrest for supporting the heliocentric theory but that did not stop the development of science.

29. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion Yes, this is my natural hair colour In England another great scientist arose who confirmed heliocentrism and showed how powerful and accurate the new science could be.

30. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion Legend has it that Newton came up with the idea of gravity after an apple fell on his head

31. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I The Laws of Motion But besides gravity, Newton figured out the laws of motion for all bodies on the earth or in space. Newton’s most famous book, The Principia otherwise known as the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (published 1707)

32. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I The Laws of Motion 1. A body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest unless moved by an external force. 2. A body moved by an external force will accelerate in the same direction as that force and in inverse proportion to the mass of that force. 3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

33. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion Three simple laws (+ gravity) explains an infinite number of facts in the universe, from…

34. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion …the motion of planets around the sun…

35. Or the motion of the moon around the earth

36. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I The Laws of Motion To the motion of projectiles of all sorts (inlcuding missiles and canonballs).

37. Including the Galileo spacecraft and all other satellites and spaceships…

38. The Scientific Revolution: Phase I The Laws of Motion To the motion of the tides…

39. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion And the fall of any object on the earth!

40. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion No wonder Newton is one of history’s greatest scientists! He showed that a good scientific theory is simple but explains a heck of a lot!

41. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion And like all the greatest scientists, Newton was inspired to find out about the “ocean of truth” around us by the ultimate mystery…

42. The Scientific Revolution: Phase IThe Laws of Motion To myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.

43. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Some reacted enthusiastically to the new science, seeing it as a beacon of truth and certainty in an uncertain world.

44. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Alexander Pope (1688-1744) said: “… Nature’s laws lay hid in night; God said, Let Newton be! And all was Light.”

45. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Some believed Newton had confirmed that the universe worked according to mechanical principles, like a machine. The Orloj of Prague, Czech Republic. Was the mechanical view of the universe inspired by these mechanical clocks?

46. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution The Orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system, was a populardevice to exhibit the relative size and motion of the heavenly bodies.From: The Young Gentleman's and Lady's Philosophy (London, 1755) – General Research Division, NYPL New York Public Library website

47. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Some philosophers really embraced the mechanical metaphor, claiming that even animals are machines. Rene Descartes (1596-1650) coined the famous philosophical phrase “I think therefore I am”.

48. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Descartes, Treatise on Man Descartes here claims that the human body is a machine”. Descartes includes the human body too.

49. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution Another philosopher enthusiastic about the advancement of Science was Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Bacon was famous for his wise sayings like “Knowledge is power”. Here he is shown holding a Hydro Bill.

50. The Scientific Revolution: Reactions to the Scientific Revolution • Bacon compared the Scientific Revolution to the “discovery” of America – both are about the discovery of new worlds. • In the frontispiece to his book Novum Organum, ships are shown sailing past the mythological “pillars of Hercules”, traditional limits of the known world. For Bacon this is what science was doing too in the realm of thought.