J.P.SOMMERVILLE

 

Scientific Revolution
  351-18
Modern science began in the seventeenth century, but earlier ways of thinking survived. Many opposed the new science and it is too simple to characterize the scientists as clear-thinking heroes and their opponents as foolish bigots.
Seventeenth century science made gigantic strides forward, but it also made some mistakes, and there were often good reasons for doubting some of its assertions.
Although the science of chemistry developed, it still preserved elements of medieval alchemy. Although astronomy showed some of how the universe really worked, it was still mixed up with astrology.

 

Mathematics had not shaken off its associations with number magic: - John Napier developed logarithms and Isaac Newton the calculus, but both spent many hours with the Book of Revelation and prophecies of Daniel, trying to predict the date of the end of the world.
The Scientific Revolution led to the specialization of knowledge and the distinction of the various branches of science. But for much of the seventeenth century, "natural philosophy" was dabbled in by amateurs, many of whom speculated wildly.
Almost all the great philosophers of the seventeenth century - Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Benedict Spinoza, John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - were heavily influenced by the new science. René Descartes and the philosophical system that he constructed - Cartesianism -  were inextricably linked with the period's scientific advances.
 

Copernicus, Brahe & Kepler Galileo Galilei

Inventions and theories: Newton et al.

 

 
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