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Jan 16, 1543
1543: Andreas Vesalius Publishes On the Fabric of the Human Body
This is considered to be the first great modern work of science and the foundation of modern biology. In it, Vesalius makes unprecedented observations about the structure of the human body -
Jan 16, 1543
1543: Nicolas Copernicus Publishes De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies)
Copernicus' masterwork; he sets out the heliocentric theory. -
1584: Giordano Bruno Publishes The Ash-Wednesday Supper, On Cause, Principle, and Unity, and On the Infinite Universe and Its Worlds
The renegade Italian monk unfolds his philosophy, the centerpiece of which is the contention that the universe is infinitely large and that the Earth is by no means at the center of it. For the expression of his thoughts, Bruno is burned at the stake as a heretic. -
1591: Francois Viete Invents Analytical Trigonometry
Viete's invention is essential to the study of physics and astronomy. -
1591: Galileo Galilei Demonstrates the Properties of Gravity
Galileo demonstrates, from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa, that a one- pound weight and a one hundred-pound weight, dropped at the same moment, hit the ground at the same moment, refuting the contention of the Aristotelian system that the rate of fall of an object is dependent upon its weight. He expounds fully on this demonstration years later in his 1638 Discourse on Two New Sciences. -
1610: Galileo Publishes Messenger of the Heavens
Galileo's 24-page booklet describes his telescopic observations of the moon's surface, and of Jupiter's moons, making the Church uneasy. The Inquisition soon warns Galileo to desist from spreading his theories. -
1614: John Napier Publishes Description of the Marvelous Canon of Logarithms
Napier's invention and cataloguing of logarithms is an essential step in easing the task of numerical calculation -
1618: Johannes Kepler Reveals His Third and Final Law of Planetary Motion
Kepler's laws of planetary motion describe the form and operation of planetary orbits, and are the final step leading to the academic rejection of the Aristotelian system -
1620: Francis Bacon Publishes Novum Organum
Bacon attempts to create organization and cooperation within the scientific community by demonstrating how the diverse fields of science relate to one another. -
1630: Galileo Publishes Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World
Galileo's magnum opus uses the laws of physics to refute the Aristotelian contention that the Earth is the center of the solar system and supports the heliocentric Copernican view. Galileo presents the doctrine of uniformity, which claims that the laws of terrestrial physics are no different than the laws of celestial physics. -
1633: Galileo is Forced to Recant his Theories
The Inquisition forces Galileo to sign a recantation and condemns him to house arrest for the remaining nine years of his life. His Dialogue is ordered burned as heretical, and his sentence to be read at every university. -
1637: Rene Descartes Publishes His Discourse on Method
Descartes' work sets forth the principles of deductive reasoning as used in the modern scientific method. -
1643: Evangelista Torricelli Invents the Barometer
Torricelli's invention measures air pressure, demonstrating that air does indeed have weight, and that the pressure caused by that weight differs in different situations. -
1656: Otto von Guericke Invents the Air Pump
Van Guerick demonstrates the properties of a vacuum by using his air pump to take the air from within his famous "Magdeberg hemispheres," which, though easily separated in normal conditions, could not be parted by two teams of sixteen horses once he had removed the air.
