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100
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was an Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer in the 100s. Not a lot is known about him however, we do know that his writings say that the world was geocentric. Geocentric means that the Earth was in the center of the universe. This was known as the Ptolemaic system. When he discovered this people now thought that the Earth was in the center of the universe. This theory was eventually proven wrong by Nicolaus Copernicus. -
Period: 100 to
Scientific Revolution
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1200
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon was a Franciscan monk who practiced Alchemy. Bacon questioned the old way of science which was religious teachings and Greek and Roman thinking. He questioned this by favoring a scientific method of experimentation. This challenged many people to try and find the truth about the knowledge of everyday life and the natural world. It also changed many scientists ways of practicing science. It also inspired the Scientific revolution. -
1440
Printing Press
The printing press was a huge part of the renaissance. The printing press made information much more available since they could get it much easier. The printing press was also much more efficient to print comparing to the old ways. The printing press quickly spread across the world. -
1500
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek was a dutch scientist who discovered bacteria. Leeuwenhoek discovered this by using the microscope to discover bacteria. However, he called them animalcules. He studied these for a long time and eventually wrote about a whole range of life forms that couldn't be seen by the human eye. This changed and challenged peoples perspectives about life forms since they discovered a new thing inside the life form. This also may have inspired scientists to look into the world of microbiology. -
1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
Copernicus was a polish scientist who is viewed as the founder of modern history. Copernicus challenged Ptolemy's theory of the universe being geocentric and he said that the universe was heliocentric or that the planets revolved around the Sun. However, people ignored his work because they couldn't feel the earth moving. However, this challenged and may have inspired two scientists to prove his theory to be correct. It also have changed many peoples beliefs even if it didn't so right away. -
1543
Andreas Vesalius
Vesalius was a Flemish scientist. 1,400 years later, a scientist known as Galen made descriptions of the body however, Vesalius refused to accept these descriptions and this inspired him to do his own studies of the body. In 1543, Vesalius published a book with detailed illustrations of how the human body was constructed. This changed peoples perspective of the body. His findings impacted the medical world. It changed and challenged the views people had on the body from a medical standpoint. -
Johannes Kepler
Copernicus did not have the tools to prove his theory so Kepler an Italian scientist helped confirm his theory. Kepler used Math, models, and observations to test Copernicus' theory. Some ideas of the Copernicus' theory were wrong, however, Kepler proved it to be right. He published the laws of planetary motion to prove that planets revolved around the sun. This challenged Ptolemy's theory even more. This led to Galileo to also test this theory. This eventually changed peoples views about world. -
Francis Bacon
Bacon was an English philosopher and scientist. Bacon believed that scientific theories could be developed only through observation. He also said that assumptions could only be trusted if it was proven through repeated experiments. He relied on truths that could only be shown physically. In 1620 he published a book that explained his thoughts. This may have changed peoples way of making assumptions and theories. It also led to the new way of science meaning that all theories must be proven. -
Robert Boyle
Boyle was one of the first scientists to find and explore modern science. Boyle studied the stages of matter and how it changes. In 1622, he showed how temperature and pressure affected a space that a gas occupies. This changed peoples thinking of science and brought it into a whole new field. It also inspired many scientists to explore the this new realm of science. -
William Harvey
Harvey was an English physician to King James 1 and Charles 1. Using laboratory experiments, Harvey studied the circulation of blood. He described how the blood worked its way through the heart and arteries. He also focused his studies on the heart. This changed peoples thinking about the heart and how blood worked. His studies impacted and challenged many peoples views on how the body was like on the inside. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo was a scientist who helped prove Copernicus' theory that the sun was in the center of the universe. He did this by improving the telescope to study the planets. He could see things no one else was able to. Based on his observations, he saw that it wasn't possible for all planets to revolve around the Earth. However, when he published his findings the church opposed them and named his tool as a tool of the devil. This challenged and changed people to really think was the Earth geocentric? -
Rene Descartes
Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician who wrote a book on how assumptions could only be proven by facts. He also created a math based description on how light reflects from a smooth surface. This led to a law of refraction. His works and studies have led to our now modern day view of the universe. Like us, he believed the universe operated in a machine like way based off the basic laws of physics. This challenged and changed many peoples views on the Universe. -
Isaac Newton
Newton was a scientist who built on the work of Copernicus and others. They couldn't explain why the planets revolved of the sun. After many experiments, Newton realized that the force that causes objects to fall and that holds planets in orbit is gravity. Newton also explained the laws of motion. Newtons work has even impacted us today, for example, we have seat belts because of him. Newton's discoveries changed and challenged everyone's beliefs. -
Antoine Lavoisier
Lavoisier changed peoples thinking. First, people thought fire was an element, however, he proved that wrong. He showed that a substance rapidly combined with oxygen can produce fire. He also showed how matter can change form. He did this by showing how when steam mixes with air it becomes invisible. This was a big impact on the world because it changed the practice of chemistry. It also challenged many scientists to investigate his findings. -
Joseph Priestly
Joseph Priestly was a English. In 1744, Priestly discovered oxygen this answered the question of how things burn. However, he didn't publish his findings to 1777. This changed and challenged every bodies thoughts because everyone before thought that fire was an element. This impacted the world because now everyone knew how fire was made.
