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1700 BCE
Gottfried Liebnitz
Liebnitz developed calculus. Newton also developed calculus but the two of them didn't work together on this. Liebnitz discussed mathematics, logic, science, history, law, and theology with political figures in his time. Calculus is used in the world and is helpful for engineering, physics, etc. -
100
Ptolemy
Ptolemy stated that the Earth was the center of the universe. His theory was called the geocentric theory. He said that the planets and sun revolved around Earth. People believed his theory for centuries. This is significant, in a bad way sort of, because people believed this theory for some time, and it was wrong. It wasn't a good thing but it had an effect on the revolution. -
150
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus argued against what Ptolemy said about the earth being the center of the universe. Copernicus said that the sun was the center of the universe. His theory was called the heliocentric theory. This is significant because for centuries, until Copernicus had come alone, everyone had believed what Ptolemy said, and it could have thrown off scientists and other theories if they were thinking the earth was the center of the universe. -
1300
Renaissance
This was the time in which they switched from the old ways to the new ways. The old ways included magic, religious teaching/ thinking and astrology. The old ways followed the church. The new way included science, questioning the old ways and alchemy. This was a huge change and very significant because peoples beliefs and thinking was completely changing. -
1543
Andreas Vesalius
Vesalius studied anatomy. He didn't like or believe the descriptions of human muscles and tissue written by Galen over 1,000 years earlier. He did his own studies and published a book full of illustrations of the human body. This is important because it helped show people how the body works and changed how people viewed the human body. With out this it might have taken a long time for people to abandon Galen's thinking and find the truth. -
Johannes Kepler
Kepler was a smart mathematician who tested Copernicus's theory. He used models, observations and math. Kepler found that some of Copernicus's ideas were wrong but was still able to prove that his theory was correct. He published laws of planetary motion in 1609. This is important because after this people knew that they could really trust Copernicus's ideas and base other theories and ideas off his because Kepler had proven most of them to be correct, and fixed the ones that were incorrect. -
William Harvey
He made important contributions by studying the circulation of blood using laboratory experiments. He observed how blood moved through veins and arteries and also the heart. In 1616 he announced his discovery of the circulation of blood within the body. -
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon relied on things that could be demonstrated physically instead of things that could be proven through reasoning. He said that no assumptions could be trusted unless proven by repeating experiments. This is important because other people could use his ways as an example, and this would lead to less mistakes and false assumptions. -
Galileo Galilei
Galilio did not invent the telescope, as many believe but he made changes to a refracting telescope created by Hans Lippershey. He was able to see things that hadn't been seen before. He observed the valleys on the moon, spots in the sun, etc. He sketched what he saw. Galilio, and Johannes Kepler each helped prove Copernicus's theory to be true. This is important because he made it possible for people to know that they could rely and build off of Copernicus's theory. -
René Descartes
A lot of Rene's work challenged traditions of the church. He said that all assumptions had to be proven with facts. He created a mathematical description of the may light reflects from smooth surfaces. This is important because similar to Francis Bacon's ways, it would lead to less mistakes and false theories or ideas. -
Robert Boyle
Robert found that when you increase the pressure on a gas, the gas's volume shrinks in a predictable way. This was the first gas law to be discovered. -
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
Leeuwenhoek used a microscope to discover bacteria which had never been seen by the human eye. He called the animalcules. This is important because after his findings, people were able to look further into this new world of bacteria that had never been seen by humans. -
Issac Newton
Issac Newton developed the three laws of motion. He also made the law of universal gravitation. He used physics to build off of and prove Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo. His findings are some of the most important in science. Wherever you are, you can look around and see examples of his laws. These laws are used and seen in every day life and are very important. They allow us to understand why a lot of motion related things happen. -
Joseph Priestley
Priestley discovered oxygen. He also answered the question of why things burn. This helped the world understand and learn new things. Knowing why things burn could help prevent fires because if you know why and how things burn, you can also find things that will not burn and how to prevent fire. -
Antoine Lavoisier
People thought that fire was an element until Lavoisier. He found that fire was not an element because fire was resulted when a substance combined with oxygen, which is an element. He also proved that matter can change form like when steam becomes invisible because it mixes with the air. But matter can never be destroyed or created. This is a very important idea. Lavoisier also named oxygen. He is important because he helped people abandon a false understanding and learn new ideas.
