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Period: 100 to
Scientific revolution
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140
Ptolemy
Ptolemy was a scientist who lived long before the scientific revolution and created the geocentric theory (meaning that he thought the earth was the center of the universe). This was what people believed for thousands of years until the scientific revolution. -
1214
Roger Bacon
Roger bacon was a monk that did not fully accept the religious beliefs as the truth and challenged those beliefs by using the system of scientific experimentation. This system was what started the scientific revolution. -
1514
Andreas Vesalius
Vesalius was a pioneer of the anatomical studies by following some words of the renaissance artist leonardo da vinci. He did not believe the explanations of the human body written 1,400 years prior and were the main source of belief, so he conducted his own studies and challenged those beliefs. He published a seven volume book explaining in extreme detail the tissues of the human body and drawings of his studies. He helped people understand how the parts of the human body worked in unison. -
1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus copernicus developed the heliocentric theory that went against ptolemy's beliefs and religious beliefs. This theory stated that the sun was the center of the universe and was relatively ignored by the public. This event however inspired later scientists to prove the theory correct. -
Johannes Kepler
Kepler was a brilliant mathematician who developed the kepler's laws of planetary motion. He used mathematics mainly to try to prove that the earth rotated around the sun. He and galileo helped give enough evidence to prove copernicus correct. This was highly disapproved by the church for it went against their beliefs and changed what people thought about the universe. -
Francis Bacon
Francis bacon was a philosopher who believed that truths are truths if they can be demonstrated using the scientific method and repeated trials. He published a book that had outlined his form of knowledge and this helped people believe in what could be proven. He changed the fact that people believed things purely from faith to wanting to see it done in order to believe it. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo helped prove the heliocentric theory in 1632 by using the telescope. He recorded his observations with an improved version of the telescope and helped prove the heliocentric theory along with kepler and copernicus. The church disagreed with his findings and said the telescope was the devil's invention. Galileo proved that lighter objects fall at the same rate as heavier objects as well and this went against aristotle's statements. He changed what was thought about gravity. -
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton is one of the most widely known scientists of the scientific revolution. He published a book explaining into more detail how the planetary bodies moved around the sun. He developed the law of universal gravitation stating that all bodies of mass had their own gravitational force and how it could be measured. Newton's worked is still used today in spacecraft and anything that moves, it changed how people thought. His work, like Galileo's, went against ancient beliefs of gravity. -
Rene Descartes
Rene Descartes explained how the universe works according to the laws of motion. He helped change the way people perceived the universe. Rene Descartes was a mathematician, astrologer, scientist. He described the basis for the law of refraction. This helped in the study of optics. -
William Harvey
William harvey was one of the first scientists to fully understand the circulation of blood in the human body. He also came up with the data to support this new understanding by describing how blood flowed through the veins and arteries and how the heart pumped the blood. This helped others understand the human body to a further extent. Harvey changed the previous belief of blood flow to be that all blood flowed in one direction. -
Robert Boyle
Robert boyle is one of the most well known chemists for creating boyle's law stating that "the volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure and vice versa" Robert boyle also invented the air pump. He changed how people thought air worked and his law is the basis of modern chemistry. -
Gottfried Leibniz
Leibniz was a german mathematician who developed a new form of math called calculus that was extremely complicated, as well as isaac newton, but separately. He was not given much credit for his discovery because it was overshadowed by much bigger scientist, mathematician isaac newton. He changed the basis of mathematics with calculus. Calculus is used to this day in modern science. -
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie van leeuwenhoek used the microscope to discover bacteria. At the time he called them animalcules for they were creatures never seen by the naked eye. He wrote about his discoveries. He changed the medical field with his discovery and we still use bacteria in medicines and antibiotics. -
Joseph Priestly
Joseph priestly discovered the element of oxygen in 1774, whilst doing so he proved air to be not an element but a mixture of gases. He also discovered hydrogen and carbon dioxide. He used these gases in the phlogiston theory. He changed the way people perceived fire. This discoveries are still used in modern chemistry. -
Lavoisier
Lavoisier challenged the belief that fire was an element and did research and found that fire is the result of a substance and oxygen combining rapidly. Lavoisier also proved that matter can change form but can not be created or destroyed. This is an extremely important principle in the study of chemistry.
