Introduction
The events that shape the contemporary fabric of society often seem new. The challenges and issues that the society faces today have been looked at from the perspective that they have not been experienced anywhere before. The passage of time may momentarily erase the interconnected nature of human behavior and activity, but history often becomes the constant reminder. Numerous occurrences can trace their origins and causes in history. History thus plays the crucial role of providing insights on past occurrences and their influence on the modern society. This then offers a probable channel of pursuing solutions and experience for the enhancement of society. The modern fabric of society was a representation of innumerable occurrences in the past that have shaped it. The focus of this essay is the age of scientific revolution. Right before the onset of the scientific study and methodology, natural philosophy and religion were the main aspects of understating the world and its social, physical and economic dynamics.
The Scientific Revolution
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries describe an age where new ways of thinking about the natural world began to take shape. Despite the great resistance that authorities exercised in an attempt to minimize the utilization of the ideas of the revolution, they still managed to influence the society. The scientific revolution highlights the outburst of investigations and activity of the nature of the physical world.
Developments in astronomy, biology, physics and mathematics transformed and revolutionized the views of nature and society. The revolution began in Europe towards the end of the Renaissance era. The onset of the revolution is often disputed; however, many scholars agree that the publication of the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 marked the onset of the scientific revolution.
The revolution was not a single event that brought forth the outburst of knowledge and information, but a gradual process with numerous phases. The first phase of the revolution was largely focused on the re-evaluation of ancient knowledge and discoveries. The period is also often referred to as scientific Renaissance, which ended in 1632.
The publication of Galilei’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems propelled scholars to shift from the ancient knowledge rediscovery and focus on potential research through scientific inquiry, analysis, and evaluation. The revolution was built on the science of the middle ages alongside the ancient Greek knowledge.
The artificial and natural methods of research were brought to an end by the definition and application of scientific methods in the 17th century. The Aristotelian approach that focused on deduction was replaced by that of induction, which allowed for further understanding. In the age of deductive analysis, a rare event that contradicted the existing theoretical models was considered to be aberrations.
Empiricism, however, became an integral process of analyzing nature and its occurrences. Francis Bacon, who is often referred to as the very first empiricist, established the inductive methodologies that demanded planned procedures in the investigation. Bacon developed a great reformation of knowledge, which was focused on using various instruments to govern the work of nature and thus produce results that were definite.
He thus established a scientific method of study that focused on isolating the formal cause of an occurrence by the use of eliminative induction. A person who wanted to analyze nature in this way would first have to free his mind from any tendencies and notions that often distorted the truth. While philosophy was focused on discourse that dwelled on deductive reasoning, empiricism focused on the procedural and inductive analysis of occurrences to guarantee credibility.
According to Aristotelians, scientific knowledge was focused on establishing the true causes of things. Medieval natural philosophers focused on the use of theoretical analysis while failing to incorporate actual measurements and physical quantity. Mathematical and value computation were aspects that were majorly utilized in optics and astronomy. However, the onset of scientific methodology pushed scientists into using quantitative measurements for attaining the values of physical phenomena on earth.
The long-held view of the earth and the universe at large was that the earth was at the center of the universe, and everything else revolved around it. This concept was based on the philosophical analysis of the universe through reason and logic. The geocentric model of the universe, as it was referred to, would later be shattered by the heliocentric model that was proposed by Copernicus. In his model, he tried to prove that the held the moon and the plants in position and that it was at the center of the universe.
The discoveries of Johannes Kepler and Galileo further accredited the newfound theory of Copernicus. Kepler agreed that indeed the earth revolved around the sun. He also agreed to use the precision of the measurements that Tycho Brahe had developed to enhance the model that had been proposed by Copernican.
Kepler made a discovery that the planetary orbits were elliptical with the sun being the focus of the ellipse. Galileo, on the other hand, developed the original mechanics theory and motion laws that would be further analyzed by Newton. Galileo Galilei, who is often referred to as the father of modern observational astronomy and physics, developed the very first contributions to the science and dynamics of motion and mechanics.
In The Assayer, Galileo was the first to proclaim that nature was written in the language of mathematics when he said: "Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures”.
The greatest contribution of Copernicus to the scientific revolution was the introduction of mathematical reasoning into the analysis of the cosmos. In as much as it contradicted the commonsense view that that had been developed by Aristotle, it created the platform for the daring and unconventional analysis of the world and the planets.
Institutionalization of the scientific studies marked an important stage in the Scientific Revolution. The first step towards the establishment of institutions that focused on the scientific investigation was through the development of societies, which focused on science and its discoveries.
The Royal Society in England, which was formed in the 1640s, allowed scientists to meet and discuss their discoveries and advancements. However, the very first institution of science was the "College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematical Experimental Learning" that was established in 1660 by the 1660 committee of 12. This group focused on weekly discussions, which also involved running experiments.
Medical discoveries were also part of the revolution that was being experienced in the scientific world. Prior to the onset of scientific methods, the European thinking on medicine was based on the writing of a Greek physician Galen. Galen’s teachings on anatomy were based on the dissection animals, which were to a great extent wrong.
However, with the dissection of human corpses by Andreas Vesalius, the perspective of the human body and its functioning was revolutionized. The study laid the foundation for dissection and anatomical study of the human body. Body functions and structure could be viewed in a three-dimension space.
Vesalius went ahead to describe the bone structure of the human body as the functional structures and in effect laid the foundation upon which modern medicine would develop its scope. The period of scientific evolution would come to an end in 1687 following the discovery of universal gravitation and the laws of motion by Isaac Newton. The end of the 18th century marked the culmination of the Scientific Revolution and the onset of the Age of Reflection.
Significance
The new aspect of scientific investigation created the basis and foundation of modern sciences. The contemporary scientific advancement has its foundation in the sixteenth century and seventeenth century. In the contemporary society, proper research that is acceptable is often the one that employs empirical methodologies. Proper research entails the investigation of things based on planned procedures and inductive methods. This highlights the single most influential of the Scientific Revolution.
The medical world is another great beneficiary of the scientific revolution. The empirical research approach created a platform that scientists could analyze information and objects in detail. The onset of anatomical studies of the body would lay the foundation for the modern medical field. From a social perspective, the scientific revolution greatly influenced the religious fabric of society. The changed view of the universe with the sun as the center contradicted the view that had long been held by the church. It raised doubts and heavily dented the credibility of the church.
As a matter of fact, the rise of atheism can be traced back to the 1600s when scholars found a reason to question the religious view and the fundamentalist of creation. The very basis upon which the religious perspective had solidly relied on for centuries was drastically shifted by the heliocentric model and the confirmation by Isaac Newton through the discovery of the gravitational forces and the laws of motion.
Conclusion
History provides an important foundation for analyzing interrelatedness of past and present events. This analysis has been found to be a crucial tool in meeting the challenges and issues of the contemporary society. The discussion provided above gives an example of how science and technology, as it is understood today, has continually improved on systems and designs of the past.
The works and publication of Newton regarding the law of gravity and laws of motion brought to an end the long chain of discovery and theory. Copernicus had set the process in motion in the sixteenth century with his suggestion that the concept of the earth being the center of the universe might have been flawed. Kepler would then go ahead and reduce the motions of the planets into mathematical rules.
The earthly mechanical system that was developed by the Galileo was a reflection of the heavenly system. The Principia of Newton merged the Kepler’s astronomy to the physics of Galileo and brought forth the understanding of the universe that is still relying on even in the contemporary society. An important aspect that can be noted from the discussion is the gradual process and development of original discoveries and information to bring forth a remarkable period in the history of the world.
Bibliography
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