Chapter 16: Toward a New Worldview Part 1

Robert Boyle

Founder of modern chemistry

Cartesian Dualism

Descartes's view that all of reality could ultimately be reduced to mind and matter.

Johannes Kepler

Assistant to Brahe; used Brahe's data to prove that the earth moved in an elliptical, not circular, orbit; Wrote 3 laws of planetary motion based on mechanical relationships and accurately predicted movements of planets in a sun-centered universe; Demolished old systems of Aristotle and Ptolemy

Nicolaus Copernicus

A Polish astronomer who proved that the Ptolemaic system was inaccurate, he proposed the theory that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system.

Maria Sibylla Merian

involved in Scientific Revolution as entomologist; wrote "Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname", which showed drawings of the life cycles of insects on Suriname

deductive reasoning

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

Law of Inertia

A law formulated by Galileo that states that motion, not rest, is the natural state of an object, and that an object continues in motion forever unless stopped by some external force.

Tyco Brahe

Danish astronomer; built a modern observatory; known for observations and influencing Johannes Kepler

Aristotle

Greek philosopher; believed the earth was the center of the universe; widely followed until after 1500.

Natural Philosophy

An early modern term for the study of the nature of the universe, its purpose, and how it functioned; it encompassed what we would call "science" today.

Copernican hypothesis

The idea that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe.

Sir Isaac Newton

1643-1727. English physicist, mathmetician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian. Published work in 1687 describing universal gravitation, and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics.

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

law of universal gravitation

Newton's law that all objects are attracted to one another and that the force of attraction is proportional to the object's quantity of matter and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Francis Bacon

(1561-1626) English politician, writer. Formalized the empirical method. Novum Organum. Inductive reasoning.

Scientific Revolution

A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.

Empiricism

A theory of inductive reasoning that calls for acquiring evidence through observation and experimentation rather than reason and speculation.

Andreas Versalius

Published On the Structure of the Human Body, the first study of human anatomy

Rene Descartes

17th century French philosopher; wrote Discourse on Method; 1st principle "i think therefore i am"; believed mind and matter were completely separate; known as father of modern rationalism

inductive reasoning

A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations.

Experimental Method

The approach, pioneered by Galileo, that the proper way to explore the workings of the universe was through repeatable experiments rather than speculation.

Galileo Galilei

Used telescope to support heliocentric theory; was put on trial by the Catholic Church; known for developing the law of inertia