The “Scientific Revolution” was an era in time where there was an immense transformation in scientific thinking. An Italian scientist named Galileo, for example, discovered that the earth is not flat, but spherical. This finding was what led to the discovery of the law of gravity. Galileo is also accredited for the discovery of the pendulum law. He relied on investigations and experiments to provide evidence for all his theories. Not all of his findings were however accepted by the people of his era (especially the church). Despite this, he continuously delved into his quest for answers to scientific queries.
The scientific revolution was greatly boosted by early scientific greats like Galileo. These scientists, however, were to a great extent hindered by institutions, the church, and even prominent people having contrary beliefs. In an article by Little Edmund on Galileo, science, and the church, the writer clearly shows us that the church was hostile towards science and scientific facts. Despite this, scientists of this era took this discipline as an indispensable constituent of their faith. They believed that studying science would help them honor and learn more about God. Despite being condemned by the church, scientists like Galileo were strong believers in Christianity. What they wanted to put across though, was that these theories could be proved through observations and experimentation. Many years after their ideas were rubbished, the truth came out and there was proof that their facts were correct and could have been made better with proper backing.
As shown in Little Edmund’s journal, many scientists during the revolution had theories that were later proved to be true. The problem however was that they could not produce sufficient evidence, or were rubbished by the church, institutions, or influential people who had diverse, popular beliefs. The journal goes further to state that there was a lot of beneficial work carried out by scientists of the era who were rubbished. For example, from the early to mid-1800, a hospital worker in Vienna observed medical practitioners washing their hands before attending to patients. Due to this simple act, a bigger percentage of the patients survived. Even with this fact though, the worker was not able to bring up a scientific theory to support this happening (Little 2010, 31).
Galileo, on the other hand, tried to prove that contrary to popular belief, the earth was spherical and not round. He tried to prove his theory through experimentation and observation but the people of that time especially those attached to the church refuted his ideas to the extent of not even looking through his telescope. Instead, they went ahead and condemned him. Little, in his article clearly shows that “science does not consist of ratifying what others say, rather on searching for causes of phenomena” (Little 2010, 31). He goes further and says, “What the church and other people desired was not the truth, but an additional witness in favor of their foregone conclusions” (Little 2010, 31).
Another article that sheds some light on the scientific revolution is one by Karwatka Dennis. The article is essentially about Galileo Galilei and how he brought about the ‘Scientific Revolution’. In this article, Karwatka says that in the 16th century, the popular belief among people and institutions was that “when anything appeared to be true, then it was true”. The people at that time were driven by philosophy and not by observation and experimentation (Karwatka 2002, 10). When a scientist, Galileo put forward the outcomes of his experiments and observations, he triggered the scientific revolution.
In this article, Karnataka states that Galileo, then a student in medicine at the University of Pisa in the mid-1500, passed a mathematics test then became enthralled by the extrapolative ability of math and physics. Generally, people liked him because of his investigative approach to science. He was also the inventor of the thermometer and the pendulum.
After hearing about the invention of the telescope, the scientist made his. With his telescope, Galileo was able to look at the stars and other planets and later was able to determine that the sun was at the center of the Solar System. “He published his results in a 1610 book Starting The Revolution” (Karwatka 2002, 10). The findings contradicted traditional thought which placed the earth in the middle of the universe. The article depicts Galileo as disagreeing with leaders who were unwilling to come to terms “with clear evidence provided by careful scientific observation” (Karwatka 2002, 10). He was stripped off of his teaching career because he strongly agreed to the fact that the sun is at the center of the solar system. He was later tried and put under house arrest for the rest of his natural life. Consequently, the scientific revolution started after he was able to use experimentation and observation to prove or disapprove theories in science.
Galileo was truly a great scientist of all times, who was condemned by the church despite his efforts to prove his theories experimentally, and beyond any reasonable doubt. An interesting twist of his life again was that he was a strong believer in Christianity.
Therefore, as shown here, the scientific revolution was an era when innovative ideas in sciences led to a refutation of prevailing doctrines laying the foundation for modern scientific disciplines. The revolution has proved that science is not just about general knowledge, but what is right only gets established by experimentation and observations.
Reference list
Little, Edmund. “Galileo, science and the Church.” Stimulus: The New Zealand Journal of Christian Thought & Practice 18, no. 3 (2010): 31-34. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (2011).
K arwatka, Dennis. “Galileo Galilei and How He Started the Scientific Revolution.” Tech Directions 61, no. 6 (2002): 10. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (2011).