The Scientific Revolution can be enumerated among the greatest achievements by the humanity during the whole course of the history. It changed the whole perception of the world around us, and established new tendencies in social, economical and political developments. The period of the Scientific Revolution became the time when science became more significant in people’s life that religion which was never possible before. Such considerable change led to the new way of thinking spread among people including atheism and pursuing materialistic values rather than spiritual ones. Overall, evaluating the situation it should be stated that the Scientific Revolution helped humanity achieve incredible progress in different areas including biology, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, physics, and chemistry which made it possible for people to break free form the chains that the Church put on them.
First, speaking about the Scientific Revolution, it is important to give a definition to this important development in human life. The Scientific Revolution can be explained as a historic phenomenon which occurred between The Enlightenment and the beginning of industrialization in the end of the eighteenth century. The main characteristic of this period is unprecedented development in the area of science including such branches of science as biology, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, physics, and chemistry.
Among the key figures of the Scientific Revolution were Nicolaus Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Giordano Bruno, Isaac Newton, René Descartes, and Francis Bacon. Nicolaus Copernicus was a great mathematician whose counting enabled him to acquire the true understanding on the world’s organization. He realized that the Earth is not the center of the Universe or the space as it was stated by the Catholic Church. This important finding became central in changing people’s understanding of the world around them. According to Tarnas (248), ‘more than any other single factor, it was the Copernican insight that provoked and symbolized the drastic, fundamnetal break from the ancient and medieval universe to that of the modern era’. Copernicus’ work was continued by the efforts of Galileo Galilei who was not afraid to die for his scientific findings and the triumph of truth. Galileo Galilei realized that the Earth was not a flat and motionless platform put on some visible pillars as it was taught by the Catholic Church. ‘With Galileo telescope, the heliocentric theory could no longer be considered merely a computational convenience’ (Tarnas 259). This ingenious finding became the reason of putting him to the list of heretics by the Church, and public execution by being burnt alive. Giordano Bruno had a similar lot in life: he ‘was burnt at the stake in 1600’ (Tarnas 253). The revelations of similar importance were offered to humanity by Isaac Newton, René Descartes, and Francis Bacon whose names will have eternal glory through generations as ‘the birth of modern era’ was able due to their efforts (Tarnas 271).
The reaction of the Church to the development of science was more than outrageous. ‘With religion and science in such apparent contradiction…- there was little question for Church authorities as to which system would prevail’ (Tarnas 254). Being worried for the areas of its influence among the population, the clergy was determined to destroy any person able to threat its exalted position. The Church made mind-blowing profits by means of keeping people in the darkness and ignorance. The Church developed many ways of robbing people such as indulgences, taxes, and “free-will” donations. It was absolutely clear for the clergy that with the development of science, people would realize how cruelly they were deceived, and the robbery would end up. On this reason, the Church was desperate in murdering every individual threatening its position in the society. As a result, thousands of innocent people were martyrly executed by the clergy. Still, this did not stop people of free will and honest heart who dreamt about helping humanity to go out of extreme darkness of false religious teachings and aberrations.
The fate of religion in light of the Scientific Revolution was predestined. People learnt how cruelly and unshamed they were deceived by the “holy” people speaking as if they were god’s servants. In reality, the representatives of Church appeared to be liars and wheeler-dealers. The Scientific Revolution became a reason why so many people forgot about their faith in god, and became atheists fiercely fighting with the Church and its deceitful practices. After the Scientific Revolution, religion was never able to occupy such central place in human society as it had before. The era of the Scientific Revolution even caused formation of atheistic states in the centuries to come. In these atheistic states occupying significant areas, the very idea of faith in god was unthinkable. Similarly to the previous activities of the Church, the leaders of those states relentlessly killed every person claiming to be in connection with religion.
Concluding on the above-discussed information, it should be stated that the Scientific Revolution became a turning point in the history of humanity. With the development of such important sciences as biology, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, physics, and chemistry, the whole perception of the world has changed. Due to the findings of such ingenious men of science as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, René Descartes, and Francis Bacon, people realized that they were long fooled and robbed by the Church. This became the beginning of the era of atheism in the human history.
Works Cited
Tarnas, Richard. The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped Our World View, New York:Ballantine Books, 1993. Print.