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The Scientific Revolution

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The Scientific Revolution
Before the Scientific Revolution, the Bible or Greek philosophers such as Aristotle or as-tronomers like Claudius Ptolemy, whose ideas were sanctioned by the church, answered any questions regarding the natural world. In the bible it writes, "Mankind is the most important of God's creations and occupies the centre of his universe." Astronomers there-fore stated that, "The earth is at the centre of the universe. The sun, the moon and the stars all move around the earth." During the scientific revolution Nicholas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton all voiced their opinions that contradicted the views of the church.

Before the Scientific Revolution, the Bible or Greek philosophers such as Aristotle or

Nicholas Copernicus, (1473-1543) a Polish monk and astronomer trained in medi-cine, law and mathematics, believed that the sun, not the earth, was at the centre of the universe. He believed this to be true because mathematics fit in nowhere with the explanation of how our world came to be. He formulated mathematical calcula-tions that provided the basis for a new view on the world. He constructed a model of the universe to show this. His theory contrasted with the beliefs and views of the church therefore it was denounced in 1543.

Galileo Galilei, (1564-1642) an Italian mathematician and astronomer, won the re-spect and admiration of many people of his time because of his inventions. He con-structed a military compass, an instrument for measuring the expansion of liquids, and one of the early telescopes with which he discovered Jupiter's satellites, irregu-larities on the surface of the moon, star clusters in the milky way and spots on the surface of the sun. He was initially skeptical of Copernicus' theory however his ob-servations and experiments affirmed his diagram of the universe. Critics attacked Galilei's findings. They said that his "discoveries" were ridiculous to believe and that it was only is imagination or dreams. Galilei wrote a

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