AP European History

Crash Course

The Scientific Revolution

I. The Geocentric View of the Universe

• A. Old Assumptions
  • 1. Medieval philosophers accepted a geocentric view that held that the earth was a motionless body located at the center of the universe. The sun, moon, and planets all moved around the earth in perfectly circular paths.
  • 2. Medieval philosophers believed that different physical laws applied to the earth and to the heavens.
• B. Traditional Authorities
  • 1. Both the Greek philosopher Aristotle and the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy supported the geocentric theory.
  • 2. The Church taught that God had deliberately placed the earth at the center of the universe. Earth was thus a special place on which the great drama of life took place.

II. The Heliocentric View of the Universe

• A. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
  • 1. Copernicus was a Polish clergyman and astronomer. In his landmark book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Copernicus directly challenged the geocentric view of the universe.
  • 2. Copernicus presented his readers with a heliocentric view in which the earth revolved around the sun, which was the center of the universe.
• B. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
  • 1. Copernicus’s bold but controversial ideas were based on logic, not on direct observation. In the late 1500s, a Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, carefully recorded the movements of each known planet. When Brahe died in 1601, his assistant Johannes Kepler continued his work.
  • 2. After carefully studying Brahe’s data, Kepler formulated three laws of planetary motion:
    • a. The planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits.
    • b. Planets move more rapidly as their orbits approach the sun.
    • c. The time a planet takes to orbit the sun varies proportionately with its distance from the sun.
• C. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
  • 1. Galileo was an Italian scientist who used controlled experiments to formulate laws of motion and inertia that were expressed in mathematical formulas.
  • 2. Galileo was one of the first people to use the telescope for astronomical observation. His discoveries provided irrefutable support for the heliocentric view that the earth was a planet circling the sun.
  • 3. Pope Urban VII accused Galileo of meddling “with the most important and dangerous subjects which can be stirred up in these days.” In 1633, the pope summoned Galileo to Rome to stand trial. Under threat of torture, Galileo retracted his support for the Copernican theory.

III. The Scientific Method

• A. Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and the Inductive Method
  • 1. Bacon contributed to scientific developments in the seventeenth century by advocating an inductive method for scientific experimentation.
  • 2. The inductive method begins with direct observation of phenomena. This produces data that is systematically recorded and organized. The data leads to a tentative hypothesis that is retested in additional experiments.
  • 3. Bacon argued that this process of controlled experimentation would lead to the formulation of universal principles and scientific laws.
• B. René Descartes (1596-1650) and the Development of the Deductive Method
  • 1. Descartes contributed to scientific developments in the seventeenth century by advocating a deductive method for the search for truth.
  • 2. Descartes began by doubting all notions based on authority or custom. Instead, he started with a self-evident axiom known to be true. He then used logical reasoning to deduce various inferences.
• C. Characteristics of the Scientific Method
  • 1. Bacon’s inductive method and Descartes deductive method proved to be complementary parts of a systematic and logical way of seeking truth known as the scientific method.
  • 2. The scientific method includes the following characteristics:
    • a. Belief in the existence of regular patterns in nature
    • b. Use of controlled experiments to systematically record facts and verify hypotheses
    • c. Search for mathematical formulas to describe natural phenomena
• D. Scientific Societies
  • 1. Sponsored by governments and monarchs, scientists organized societies to promote research and spread scientific knowledge.
  • 2. Founded in 1660, the Royal Society in England enjoyed international prestige. Other scientific societies were founded in Florence, Paris, and Berlin.

    The scientific societies helped create an international scientific community.

IV. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• A. Newton and the Law of Gravitation
  • 1. Newton published the Principia in 1687. This momentous work combined Kepler’s laws of planetary motion, Galileo’s laws of inertia and falling bodies, and Newton’s own conception of gravitation into a single mathematical law of universal gravitation.
  • 2. Newton’s concise mathematical formula described all forms of celestial and terrestrial motion.
• B. The Newtonian Universe
  • 1. Newton demonstrated that the universe is governed by universal laws that can be expressed in mathematical formulas.
  • 2. Newton viewed the universe as a vast machine, created by God but working according to universal laws that could be discovered, mastered, and utilized to improve human life.
  • 3. Supernatural and miraculous forces played no role in Newton’s universe.
  • 4. Newton’s mechanistic concept of the universe dominated Western thought until the discoveries of Albert Einstein in the early twentieth century.

The Scientific Revolution is one of the watershed events In European Intellectual history. APEURO test writers do not expect you to memorize scientific laws or mathematical formulas. They do expect you to discuss how pivotal figures such as Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, and Newton adopted a new view of nature that challenged long-held views of the relationship between humanity and the universe.