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1200
Roger Bacon
He was alive during the Renaissance era and was a English philosopher scientist and perhaps most importantly a monk. He studied at Oxford and Paris and was a leading scholar of his time. He favored scientific experimentations over religious ideas. This would be important because he started to change the way people thought. This also challenged the old beliefs. -
Period: 1200 to
Magic to Science
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1500
New Scientific Instruments
The scientific instruments created included the barometer, the microscope, the telescope, the air pump, and the thermometer. This was an extremely important part of the scientific revolution because it helped scientist and mathematicians gather evidence to prove their theories. This challenged the church and made people change their ways of thinking and not believe blindly in magic. -
1500
Printing Press
The printing press was important because scientist could find others ideas quickly and collaborate or expand of each other's theories. It also didn’t allow for the church to take away the material, if only one person had the copy the church could take it away but with everyone having it they couldn't. The changed everything because they could progress faster and better with the printing press. -
1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
Before the scientific revolution everyone believed in the geocentric theory. Ptolemy came up with this theory in A.D. 100, he believed that sun planets revolved around the earth. Copernicus challenged Ptolemy theory with the heliocentric theory, that sun was the center of the universe and the planets revolved around the sun. This challenged the old beliefs and moved people further away from magic and the old beliefs. This is also important because he founded modern day astronomy. -
1543
Andreas Vesalius
Vesalius was another man the refused to keep believing in the old ways, therefore he turned to science. He pioneered in anatomy. After being unable to accept Galen’s description of human muscle and tissue from 1,400 years he decided to have his own studies. He published a illustrated book on human anatomy, for the first time, would give readers a deep insight on the human body. This challenged the way people previously thought of the body. -
Johannes Kepler
He was a mathematician that used models, observations, and mathematics to prove the heliocentric theory. Some of Copernicus’s theories were wrong but he eventually proved the theory. He published the laws but people weren’t convinced until later on when Galileo provided more evidence. He was important because he played a part in proving the heliocentric theory which important to change the way people thought. -
Francis Bacon
Bacon's ideas were relatively similar to Descartes. He believed that theories could be progressed only through observation. He created a new system of knowledge in which assumptions wouldn’t be reliable unless to were proved with multiple experiments. This was important because it made theories and findings in science more reliable causing more people to transition from magic to science. -
William Harvey
Harvey’s main discovery was circulation. He recognized blood flows and identified them. Before him people believed that blood flowed to your lung from your heart and back. This was important because it changed the prior beliefs concerning blood and the body. He proved that the heart contracts and relaxes pumping blood through your arteries and veins around your body. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo was inspired by telescope and built his own. He started observing the skies. He saw the surface of the moon, the rings on Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. When he published his finding people were shocked and refused to believe. The church was his greatest challenger because his findings went against what the Bible said. Some even went as far to say the telescope was an invention of the devil. -
Rene Descartes
He thought that nothing should be accepted blindly. In order to have an idea be right it had to be proven. Descartes wrote, “I think, therefore I am.” He recognized that all sciences were interconnected and so they should be studied together. He challenged traditional church teaching which was important because it changed the way people perceived religion. -
Robert Boyle
Boyle was also known as the father of chemistry. He invented the Boyle’s law. This law shows the relationship between pressure and volume. He was well educated and so his ideas were valued. He came up with many aspects of chemistry that we still use today, like the Boyle’s law. This was important because it gave people a new understanding of the world around them. -
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek invented the microscope. He discovered cells but called them animalcules he wrote about them. This was a very important discovery because cells are the basic unit life and essential to create life. This also added to the discovery made by Vesalius who studied anatomy. -
Isaac Newton
The most important thing that Newton did was identify gravity. He proved that there is a force holding everything in its place. He also came up with Newtons law of motion. This was a huge impact in the world because it changed the way people think and are taught about religion and science. No longer did people think God and angels were the one moving the planets and keeping everything in its place, they understood it was science. Nevertheless, they still believed God created the universe. -
Joseph Priestley
Priestley focused on the chemistry and even more specifically gases. He discovered 10 new gases, including nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide (inflammable nitrous air, later called “laughing gas”), hydrogen chloride, ammonia, sulfur dioxide, silicon tetrafluoride, nitrogen and, oxygen. This was important because these gases provided many explanations for chemistry question wondered later on. -
Antoine Lavoisier
Lavoisier proved that matter can change form but can not be created or destroyed. In addition he also named oxygen who Priestley discovered as an element. This is important because this is one of the most important things to know in physics. It is an idea we still use today and took a huge leap from magic towards science.
