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World history chapter 20 scientific revolution
Essays on scientific revolution
Essays on scientific revolution
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During the seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution changed the thoughts and minds on how people perceived the physical world around them. Many of the same spiritual ideas and questions that arose due to the Renaissance, then led scientists to question traditional beliefs about the workings of the universe. These scientific observers did not always match up with the accepted truths, but this finding lead others to explore further into the study of the world around them. One important person who played a role in this change was Margaret Lucas Cavendish. She was philosopher, poet, scientist, and fiction writer. Cavendish was a brilliant women, but in this time period, she was ridiculed by many people because she was different from everyone …show more content…
She was not the type to base her idea of writings off others. Cavendish's first anthology, Poems, and Fancies, included the earliest version of her ideas on natural philosophy. Although English atomic theory in the seventeenth century attempted to explain all natural phenomena as matter in motion, in Cavendish's philosophy all atoms contained the same amount of matter but differed in size and shape; thus, earth atoms were square, water particles were round, atoms of air were long, and fire atoms were sharp. This led to Cavendish’s theory on disease, and how it was due to fighting between different atoms or there was too many one type of atom shape. However, Cavendish ended up rejecting her ideas on the theory of atoms. By 1665, when she published Philosophical and Physical Opinions, she had decided that if atoms were "Animated Matter," then they would have "Free-will and Liberty" and thus would always be at in a battle with one another and unable to cooperate in the creation of complex organisms and minerals. She had sent copies of her new ideas to the most famous scientists and celebrities of the time period. Although other philosophers had different theories, Cavendish continued to view all matter as composed of one material (Clairhout and Jung). A priority of Cavendish was that she wanted recognition in the scientific community. She presented at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge
In the 17th and 18th centuries women in science emerged that regarded themselves correct in doing so. Also there were those who announced their opinions to the world that women should not practice science and some who believed the women can and should practice science.
She objects to Descartes view of motion as a mode of a thing. To say that motion is a mode of a thing is to say that is in no way part of that thing but a manifestation or condition of that thing. Cavendish posits that motion is part of a thing rather than a mode of a thing. Motion cannot exist without matter. As a result Cavendish thinks that motion cannot be transferred from one object to another since it is not a substance but just a mode. For Cavendish, if it is the case that motion can be transferred from object to another than the object the first object would have to transfer matter to the second object since motion cannot exist without matter. That is to say if one billiards ball rolled into a second billiards ball then the second billiards ball would gain matter, and the first billiards ball would lose matter. However, for Cavendish, it could be the case that one thing occasions the motion in another thing. That is to say one thing could cause the motion that is contained with another thing to act. However, not all matter is capable of
The 17th and 18th centuries saw the embryonic stage of women’s quest for intellectual and social parity with men. The evolution of women’s fight for equal opportunities was bogged down by a long history of stereotyping and condescension. Women were weaker physically, bore children and nurtured them. The economics and culture of Europe at this time was strongly influenced by religion and resulted in prejudice against women. The dominating religions of Europe in the 1600’s and 1700’s (Catholicism and Protestantism), citing the bible, reinforced women’s roles as mother’s, wives, and homemakers. Women were considered the weaker sex both physically and mentally. Men and most women assumed that because women gave birth and produced milk for their infants, God intended that their place was in the home. Men’s egos, as well, did not allow for women to compete with them. Males thought their place was to rule, fight wars, provide income, teach and be the head of his family. Women were not accepted in academics, politics, church leadership, business, or the military. Despite these prejudices, women saw an opportunity in the sciences. As a discipline based on observations and deductive reasoning it did not necessarily require a comprehensive academic background. Since most women were deprived of the more advanced education that men received, it was the perfect field for them to begin their pursuit of equality. As a result, a growing number of women actively participated in scientific research in chemistry, astronomy, biology, botany, medicine, and entomology.
The Scientific Revolution marked a major shift in Western thought between the 1500s and 1700s. Modern science emerged as a way of gaining true knowledge about the natural world. During the time, science was a field dominated by men. Women were believed to be incapable of anything outside their domestic sphere. There was a social stigma regarding women in science. Society had varying reactions toward women working in the sciences, the majority of which were negative. However, some were accepting of women and their contributions to science. The Scientific Revolution had little impact on the way society viewed women. Women continued to be subject to restrictive gender roles.
229). According to the founding members of Royal Society, the rise of the masculine philosophy was going to be accomplished without the involvement of any women. In nineteenth century it twas believed that in order to be able to conduct real science women's exclusions was unquestionably necessary. The male domination in science, and undermining of women's intellect was upsetting a lot of women. Only few women at the time had the courage to challenge this thyps of philosophies and Margaret Cavendish was one of them. Cavendish always expressed her dissatisfaction about the unavailable higher education for women in universities. Cavendish added her concern that if things did not change withe in the near future she would not be able to put her work forward and have her influence on philosophy. Scince the nineteenth century a lot has changed in the benefit of women in science but we still have long way to go until we reach complete equality among sexes in science. Acording to Women, Gender, and Science The need for orbitals in Higher education Ingrid Bartsch mentions that “it is time for ideas already accepted by feminists to permeate the thick insulation that both protects and isolates the natural science, to explore ways that women’s studies and sciences might become legitimate partners in the production of future scientists. Today, with all the women presents in science it is easy to forget about the hardship women had to go trough in the nineteenth
When most people think of the Scientific Revolution, they think of scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Brahe, and Boyle. However, many people do not even know about the many women who played a vital role in the scientific advancements of this period. Even when these women were alive, most of society either ignored them or publicly disapproved their unladylike behavior. Because of this, these women were often forgotten from history, and very little is known about the majority of them. Although their names rarely appear in history books, the female scientists of the Scientific Revolution still impacted the world of science in several ways. In fact, all of the scientists listed above had a woman playing an influential role assisting them in their research. However, assisting men in their studies was not the only role open to women; several women performed experimentation and research on their own, or advancing science in some other way, even though the society of the time looked down upon and even resisted their studies.
The Scientific revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries changed the way that people views the world. Scientific philosophers such as Galileo and Descartes threw out the old teachings of the church and challenged them with new ways of thinking. These men sought to prove that rational thought could prove the existence of God. They also challenged that it was an understanding of a series of rational thoughts, not faith, would bring understanding of how the world worked. Traditional ways of thinking were ultimately challenged by logical and sensible rationale.
The Atomic Theory began in roughly 400BC with Democritus in Ancient Greece and is universally believed to be correct today. Democritus who was born in 460 BC and died 370 BC and is known as the father of modern science. Democritus proclaimed that everything is made up of atoms. He continued his theory to say that atoms will always be in motion, between atoms there is empty space, atoms are unbreakable, there are an infinite number of atoms all different sizes and shapes. He also said that iron atoms are solid and strong and have hooks to lock them together, water atoms are smooth and slippery, salt atoms have sharp jagged edges because of its taste and air atoms are light and spiralling.
Rosalind Franklin was a very hard working lady, she was an English chemist and a X-ray crystallographer. She would do anything to find how DNA looked and how DNA worked. Apparently nobody knew how it worked or looked so she was going to try to discover how. When they discovered that Rosalind Franklin was a woman trying to figure out DNA they laughed and picked at her. Franklin was definitely a lone wolf she didn't have that many friends considering everyone thought she was crazy. She wasn’t accepted as much because the men expected that women should only be housewives back then. She was invited to a party that the men, Watson,Crick, and Wilkins, had threw. She was also was accepted when she started hanging out with Wilkins. Franklin was educated at a private day school at Norland Place in England. Franklin passed her matriculation at age
The revolution brought about many radical changes and ideas that helped to strengthen it and the scientists that helped to bring it about became significant persons in history. "The emergence of a scientific community is one of the distinguishing marks of the Scientific Revolution."2 It was this form of community that gave a foundation for open thinking and observing throughout the sixteenth century and through twenty-first century. It was the first revolution that had more of a dedication to the ongoing process of science than of a goal to achieve scientific knowledge.3
Psychology as a science has evolved via the muddle of studies in human biology in addition to philosophies in which the various practice of basing ideas on theories and experience or empiricism, have added value to the current learning dogmas, understanding of ideas our mind. Sir Francis Bacon, amongst other great thinkers in his application of scientific method has influenced how vital experiment and observation are important. From discovery of knowledge origin, understanding, human thoughts, ideas and perceptions by various renowned personalities; advancement in science has been born in the modern society.
From an early age Galileo Galilei manifested his aptitude for mathematical and mechanical pursuits, but his parents, wishing to turn him aside from studies that promised no substantial return, destined him for the medical profession. But all was in vain, and at an early age the youth had to be left to follow the bent of his native genius, which speedily placed him among the most renowned natural philosophers. Galileo's great achievements are magnified by the fact that, happily combining experiment with calculation, he opposed the prevailing system. This system did not encourage going directly to nature for investigation of her laws and processes, instead it was held that these were best learned from authorities, especially that of Aristotle who was supposed to have spoken the last word upon all such matters. Against such a superstition Galileo resolutely and vehemently set himself. He not only soon discredited many beliefs that had been accepted as indisputable, but aroused a storm of opposition and indignation amongst those whose opinions he discredited. Galileo was a fierce controversialist, who, not content with refuting adversaries, was bent upon confounding them. Moreover, he wielded an exceedingly able pen, and unsparingly ridiculed and exasperated his opponents. Undoubtedly he thus did much to bring upon himself the troubles for which he is now chiefly remembered.
In conclusion, the scientific revolution brought dramatic change in the way people lived their lives, and it certainly influenced eighteenth century free-thinking. The scientific method was comprehensively utilized during the eighteenth century to study human behavior and societies. It enabled scientist and scholars alike to exercise their freedom of rationality so they could come to their own conclusions about religion and humanity as a whole. They could finally do so without having to defer to the dictates of established authorities.
The changes produced during the Scientific Revolution were not rapid but developed slowly and in an experimental way. Although its effects were highly influential, the forerunners Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes only had a few hundred followers. Each pioneered unique ideas that challenged the current views of human beingsí relationship with nature. With the backing of empirical observation and mathematical proof, these ideas slowly gained acceptance. As a result, the operation of society, along with prior grounds for faith were reconsidered. Their ideas promoted change and reform for humansí well-being on earth.
Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were the center of everything, ultimately causing people to question theology’s role in science and sparking the idea that people were capable of reasoning for themselves.