Scientific Revolution

  • Jan 1, 1451

    Columbus

    Christopher Columbus (d.1506) is born as is Amerigo Vespucci (d. 1512), explorers
  • Jan 1, 1462

    Major Publication

    One of the major publications of Renaissance natural philosophy, the Epitome of Ptolemy's Almagest appears; the authors, Georg Peurbach (1423-1461) and Johannes Regiomontanus (1436-1476), symbolize a shift from reverence for Ptolemy and antiquity to respect coupled with confident innovation
  • Jan 1, 1469

    Corpus Hermeticum

    Publication of the highly influential Corpus Hermeticum, a collection of writings (we now know) to have been written in the early Christian era but then thought to have been written with great authority by Hermes Trismegistus (perhaps Thoth or Moses) living c.1800 BC.
  • Jan 1, 1472

    Theory of the Planets

    Georg Peurbach's New Theory of the Planets (1454) sought to reconcile geometric descriptive models for predicting planetary motions by employing homocentric
  • Feb 19, 1473

    Nicolas Copernicus

    Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) born
  • Jan 1, 1486

    Heinrich Kramer

    The Malleus Malificarum (The Hammer of the Witches) is published as an influential guidebook to identifying witches and bringing them to punishment
  • Thomas Harriot and Tycho Brache

    Thomas Harriot (c.1560-1521) proposed the sine law of refraction, which he failed to publish. Tycho Brahe dies at his castle new Prague. Tycho Brahe dies 24 October in Prague and Kepler soon appointed Imperial Mathematician on 6 November; Kepler was able to retain Tycho's astronomical data following a lawsuit with Tycho's heirs
  • Optics

    Isaac Newton (1642-1727) publishes the first edition of his Opticks, based on work done during his days a Cambridge, including a series of speculations about nature and natural philosophy under enumerated as "Queries".
  • Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz

    Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz sends objections to Newton's philosophy to the Princess of Wales which sparks controversy between Leibniz and Samuel Clarke, Newton's representative, on the issue of God's relation to a mechanical universe ('Clockmaker'- Clockwork).
  • Observations Upon the Prophecies

    Newton's Observations Upon the Prophecies is published (London); some eleven printings follow