Nicholas Copernicus's Influence On The Western World
The Scientific Revolution is a period of time in history when thoughts on beliefs and thought itself were changing in social and institutional communities. This period of time is approximated to have lasted between 1550 though 1700 A.D, during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. There are many philosophers that come up during this period, and all of them made a contribution to the way we think today. Many of the ideals that came from this time are still a major part of our thought process, this is why this time is so influential on the Western World.
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) is one of the first men to offer a theory that ultimately begins the time we know as the Scientific Revolution. He is mostly known for proposing the idea that the sun was the center of the universe and everything else revolved around it. Before the idea people just accepted the teachings of Aristotle thinking that everything including the sun revolved around the Earth, that sat in the center of the universe. Copernicus created a heliocentric solar system in order to be able to prove his point. His ideas weren't accepted during the era due to the influential Roman Catholic Church preferring the Earth centric theory. Despite that …show more content…
it is still a major step in the field of Astronomy. The next influential man of the Scientific Revolution is Isaac Newton (1642-1726).
He is perhaps one of the most famous scientist in history, and is known for his work with Light and Color and the theory of Gravity. Newton theorized that white light was a composite of all of the colors of the spectrum, and that light was a composition of particles and not waves. He is mostly known for his theory of Gravity. It is said that Newton discovered the theory as he was sitting under an apple tree, and one of the apples fell and hit him on the head. He had seen apples fall from trees, but questioned why they fell straight instead of at an angle. Newton tested his theory for eighteen months straight before writing the Principia, which holds his three laws of
gravity.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1652) is yet another one of the numerous men who attributed a theory to the Scientific Revolution. He is known to be the father of observational astronomy, the father of modern physics, the father of the scientific method, and the father of science. Galilei introduced both the telescope and the microscope. He theorized by studying the dark spots on the sun that it was also revolving. This announcement spurred on a major conflict with the Church, telling him to retract the statement and abandon these ideals.
Galileo admired the heliocentric model of Copernicus, finding it far superior to anything else that was offered. An ideal that was the polar opposite of that of the influential Roman Catholic Church. He wrote the Dialogue on the Systems of the World comparing the idea of Copernicus with that of the geocentric theory. This book was prohibited to be sold, and was evaluated by a special commission. Galileo was found guilty of heresy and was to sign a paper placing him under house arrest for the rest of his life. To save his own life Galileo agreed to signing the paper, but it is legend that he was muttering the Earth does move however.
Without any of these men, the world we live in today might be nothing like we perceive it to be now. We could be forced to believe that the Earth still was the center of the universe, and it would be hidden from us whenever they determined otherwise. Gravity wouldn’t be something we all understood, and we would just assume that ghost was making these things fall on their own. Our outlook on safety in general might change drastically with this aspect because we would have never understood pressure and how just a slight change can quite literally crush a person.
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) is one of the first men to offer a theory that ultimately begins the time we know as the Scientific Revolution. He is mostly known for proposing the idea that the sun was the center of the universe and everything else revolved around it. Before the idea people just accepted the teachings of Aristotle thinking that everything including the sun revolved around the Earth, that sat in the center of the universe. Copernicus created a heliocentric solar system in order to be able to prove his point. His ideas weren't accepted during the era due to the influential Roman Catholic Church preferring the Earth centric theory. Despite that …show more content…
it is still a major step in the field of Astronomy. The next influential man of the Scientific Revolution is Isaac Newton (1642-1726).
He is perhaps one of the most famous scientist in history, and is known for his work with Light and Color and the theory of Gravity. Newton theorized that white light was a composite of all of the colors of the spectrum, and that light was a composition of particles and not waves. He is mostly known for his theory of Gravity. It is said that Newton discovered the theory as he was sitting under an apple tree, and one of the apples fell and hit him on the head. He had seen apples fall from trees, but questioned why they fell straight instead of at an angle. Newton tested his theory for eighteen months straight before writing the Principia, which holds his three laws of
gravity.
Galileo Galilei (1564-1652) is yet another one of the numerous men who attributed a theory to the Scientific Revolution. He is known to be the father of observational astronomy, the father of modern physics, the father of the scientific method, and the father of science. Galilei introduced both the telescope and the microscope. He theorized by studying the dark spots on the sun that it was also revolving. This announcement spurred on a major conflict with the Church, telling him to retract the statement and abandon these ideals.
Galileo admired the heliocentric model of Copernicus, finding it far superior to anything else that was offered. An ideal that was the polar opposite of that of the influential Roman Catholic Church. He wrote the Dialogue on the Systems of the World comparing the idea of Copernicus with that of the geocentric theory. This book was prohibited to be sold, and was evaluated by a special commission. Galileo was found guilty of heresy and was to sign a paper placing him under house arrest for the rest of his life. To save his own life Galileo agreed to signing the paper, but it is legend that he was muttering the Earth does move however.
Without any of these men, the world we live in today might be nothing like we perceive it to be now. We could be forced to believe that the Earth still was the center of the universe, and it would be hidden from us whenever they determined otherwise. Gravity wouldn’t be something we all understood, and we would just assume that ghost was making these things fall on their own. Our outlook on safety in general might change drastically with this aspect because we would have never understood pressure and how just a slight change can quite literally crush a person.