Scientific Revolution DBQ
Patrick Xavier
32215
B3
Scientific Revolution DBQ
The Scientific Revolution was a major step forward for Europe just like the Renaissance was.
The works of scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton significantly changed Europeans’ mindsets. Their work was undoubtedly affected by important aspects of the societies that they lived in.
The work of scientists in the Scientific Revolution was affected negatively by both religious and social factors, but positively by political factors.
The first major factor blocking these scientists was the strict opposition by the Catholic Church.
The Church had a great deal of control over science at this point in history, as shown by Galileo’s experience with the Inquisition, where he was punished by the Church for his work in support of heliocentricity. Scientists were driven to have the Churches aid to help spread their knowledge. This is seen in the writing of Copernicus to Pope Paul III, when he states, “It is to your Holiness rather than to anyone else that I have chosen to dedicate these studies of mine” (Doc 1). This statement would be biased since Copernicus might just say this to get the Pope’s support. So Copernicus recognizes that the
Pope is very powerful, therefore he would need the Church to support his work to gain credibility. If the Church had already viewed science positively, this piece in Copernicus’s book,
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
, would not be necessary. This depicts how the Pope and the Catholic Church negatively affected these scientists. In addition, others lower on the Church’s chain of command aggressively went after science as well. One monk, Giovanni Ciampoli, even wrote to Galileo saying,
“It is indispensable, therefore, to remove the possibility of malignant rumors by repeatedly showing your willingness to defer to the authority of those who have jurisdiction over the human intellect, in matters of the interpretation of Scripture” (Doc 3). This
32215
B3
Scientific Revolution DBQ
The Scientific Revolution was a major step forward for Europe just like the Renaissance was.
The works of scientists such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton significantly changed Europeans’ mindsets. Their work was undoubtedly affected by important aspects of the societies that they lived in.
The work of scientists in the Scientific Revolution was affected negatively by both religious and social factors, but positively by political factors.
The first major factor blocking these scientists was the strict opposition by the Catholic Church.
The Church had a great deal of control over science at this point in history, as shown by Galileo’s experience with the Inquisition, where he was punished by the Church for his work in support of heliocentricity. Scientists were driven to have the Churches aid to help spread their knowledge. This is seen in the writing of Copernicus to Pope Paul III, when he states, “It is to your Holiness rather than to anyone else that I have chosen to dedicate these studies of mine” (Doc 1). This statement would be biased since Copernicus might just say this to get the Pope’s support. So Copernicus recognizes that the
Pope is very powerful, therefore he would need the Church to support his work to gain credibility. If the Church had already viewed science positively, this piece in Copernicus’s book,
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres
, would not be necessary. This depicts how the Pope and the Catholic Church negatively affected these scientists. In addition, others lower on the Church’s chain of command aggressively went after science as well. One monk, Giovanni Ciampoli, even wrote to Galileo saying,
“It is indispensable, therefore, to remove the possibility of malignant rumors by repeatedly showing your willingness to defer to the authority of those who have jurisdiction over the human intellect, in matters of the interpretation of Scripture” (Doc 3). This