-
Period: Jan 1, 1300 to Jan 1, 1500
Pre-1500s Discoveries
“Before 1500, scholars generally decided what was true or false by referring to an ancient Greek or Roman author or to the Bible...Few European scholars questioned the scientific ideas of the ancient thinkers or the church by carefully observing nature for themselves.” (Pearson, 545) Before the great discoveries that would come after the 1500s, scholars decides on what is true or false with the guidance of an author or even the bible. They also research by observing nature for themselves. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to Jan 1, 1543
Copernicus' Discovery
"In the early 1500s, Copernicus became interested in an old Greek idea that the sun stood at the center of the universe..Coopernicus reasoned that indeed, the stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun...Over the next century and a half, other scientists built on the foundations he had laid." (Pearson, 546) Copernicus builds onto the theory of the sun being the center of the universe and that everything else revolves around it. Other scientists also build upon this theory. -
Jan 2, 1500
Medeival Ages discoveries
“During the Middle Ages, most scholars believed that the earth was an unmoving object located at the center of the universe. According to that belief, the moon, the sun, and the planets all moved in perfectly circular paths around the earth.” (Pearson, 545) During the Medieval Ages, many scholars assumed that the Earth was in the center of the universe, in a fixed position, which everything else revolved around it. It isn't until later that this is proved wrong. -
Jun 1, 1500
Mid-1500s European discoveries
“As these scholars replaced old assumptions with new theories, they launched a change in European thought that historians call the Scientific Revolution...The age of European exploration also fueled a great deal of scientific research, especially in astronomy and mathematics.” (Pearson, 545-546) In the mid-1500s, scholars began to research more into the old theories and discovered much more about them that help us understand more. This was a golden age of discovery to the Europeans. -
Jan 1, 1543
Vesalius, Galen, and anatomy
"However, Galen had never dissected the body of a human being. Instead, he had studied the anatomy of pigs and other animals. Gale assumed that human anatomy was much the same. Galen's assumptions were proved wrong by Andreas Vesalius...Vesalius dissected human corpses and published his observations." (Pearson, pg. 549) Vesalius looks into Galen's theory of all anatomies being the same. He proved Galen wrong when he dissected a human being and finds it different from other species. -
Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes tests the scientific method
"The work of two important thinkers
of the 1600s, Francis Bacon and René Descartes, helped to advance the new approach...He [Bacon] also criticized the way in which both Aristotle and medieval scholars arrived at their conclusions...Scientists, he wrote, should observe the world and gather information about it first." (Pearson, 547-548) Bacon tests out some old theories and proves them wrong, claiming that scientists should research and discover more about their theories. -
Period: to
Galileo's Discovery
"Galileo used his telescope to study the heavens in 1609. Then in 1610, he published a series of newsletters called Starry Messenger, which described his astonishing observations...His description of the moon’s surface shattered Aristotle’s theory that the moon and stars were made of a pure, perfect substance.” (Pearson, 545-546) Galileo discovers the faraway planets in detail and records everything he had saw in space. For example, he proved Aristotle wrong about the moon and the stars. -
Period: to
Newton and the Law of Gravity
"By the mid-1600s, Isaac Newton helped to bring together their breakthroughs under a single theory of motion...Newton was certain that all physical objects were affected equally by the same forces...Newton's great discovery was that the same force ruled the motion of the planets...and all matter on earth and in space." (Pearson, 548-549) Issac Newton's discovery was that the same forces affecting all physical objects ruled the motion of all matter in Earth and space. -
Robert Boyle's discoveries in chemistry
"Robert Boyle pioneered the use of the scientific method in chemistry... Boyle challenged Aristotle's idea that the physical world consisted of four elements-earth, air, fire, and water...Boyle proposed that matter was made up of smaller primary particles that joined together in different ways..." (Pearson, 550) Boyle uses the scientific method in chemistry and proves Aristotle wrong about the composition of the physical world as he claims it's all made of tiny particles, not four elements. -
Leeuwenhoek's microscopic discovery
"In the 1670s, a Dutch drapery merchant and amateur scientist named Anton van Leeuwenhoek used a microscope to observe bacteria swimming in tooth scrapings. He also saw red blood cells for the first time. His examination of grubs, maggots, and other such organisms showed that they did not come to life spontaneously, as was previously thought." (Pearson, 549) Leeuwenhoek discovers more about microscopic life with a microscope. He examines the life forms and learns they don't come out of nowhere. -
Period: to
Gabriel Fahrenheit, Anders Celsius, and the thermometers
"In 1714. the Dutch physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit made the first thermometer to use mercury in glass. Fahrenheit's thermometer showed water freezing at 32˚. A Swedish astronomer, Anders Celsius, created another scale for the mercury thermometer in 1742. Celsius's scale showed freezing at 0˚." (Pearson, 549) The two scientists discovers two units of temperature that we mainly refer to today as Fahrenheit and Celsius. By just using mercury in glass, it was easier to measure the temperature.