It is not a secret that the universe does not revolve around humans. As shocking as it might have sounded to pioneering science in Ancient Egypt or Ancient Greece, it is undoubtedly true. The Scientific Revolution, which occurred roughly between the 15th and 16th centuries, refers to a period of innovations in science and technology, the entirety of which had originated from the notion that the Earth is not at the center of the universe. While the shifts in scientific thought first started in the field of astronomy, they rapidly expanded to physics as well (Pacey & Bray, 2021). Nicolaus Copernicus, an astronomer of Polish descent, is rightfully considered the first to introduce some of the key ideas, which would later evolve into the full-fledged Scientific Revolution. The purpose of the following paper is to demonstrate exactly how an astronomical revolution grew to dominate physics.
The revolution is usually portrayed as a chaotic series of scientific discoveries. However, the roots of the phenomenon go back to the 16th century and the work of Nicolaus Copernicus. He was the one who challenged the traditional principles of astronomy (Pacey & Bray, 2021). As a result, the scientist single-handedly reputed Ptolemy’s geocentric system. Using the same data that would be available to Ptolemy himself, Copernicus proved that the sun is at the center, and not the Earth (Laskovaya, 2021). Apart from this notion itself, the Scientific Revolution was powered by Copernicus’ take on reality as it relates to any scientific theory. According to him, the role of astronomy is to examine physical systems. These revolutionary concepts are the foundation of the Scientific Revolution.
After the initial discovery, the scholarly community rapidly began to accept Copernican astronomy. Despite the strong opposition from religious leaders and the Christian church as a whole, the new hypothesis started to infiltrate the academic circles. As researchers used Copernicus’ findings and refined them, the utility of the concepts developed by the scientist became apparent to astronomers and astrologers alike. Numerous academics spent decades generating data, which would become crucial to not only strengthen Copernicus’ argument but disprove Aristotle’s system altogether. One of them is Tycho Brahe, who decided to reject both Copernican and Ptolemaic hypotheses (Giles, 2020). Brahe decided to utilize stabler and more reliable tools to observe phenomena over extended periods of time. As a result, his observations were continuous and highly accurate, ultimately leading him to revolutionizing science even further. The efforts of Copernicus’ successors were an outcome of the domino effect, which inevitably led to more progress and discoveries.
As scientists fought for the validity of Copernicanism, a series of important discoveries were made in the field of physics, prompting the Scientific Revolution to expand beyond astronomy. The systems, which dominated physics research at the time, were rooted in the notion that the Earth is at the center of the universe. The doctrine of physics was shattered as a result of removing humanity’s home planet from the central position in the cosmos (Pacey & Bray, 2021). In addition, the Earth’s motion trajectory around the sun was inconsistent in the context of Aristotelian physics. Thus, as Copernicus’ concepts started to reach the scholarly community of physicists, a new generation of pioneers in the field emerged. Galileo is rightfully considered to be the first member of such a generation because of his undeniable contributions.
In conclusion, it is evident that the Scientific Revolution is not a disarray of inventions and discoveries. In fact, it should be regarded as a complex process. What had initially been Copernicus’ attempt to examine the possibility of the Earth’s motion became the start of the revolution. As Copernican concepts began to enter the phase of infiltration, many academics utilized his ideas to make revolutionary discoveries of their own, thus leading to the revolution’s progress.
References
Giles, T. D. (2020). Book review: The invention of science: A new history of the Scientific Revolution. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 34(2), 218–220. Web.
Laskovaya, V. (2021). The revolutionary tens and twenties: A bird’s eye view of physics from Copernicus to modern times. Russian Academy of Science, 42(1), 46–70. Web.
Pacey, A., & Bray, F. (2021). Technology in world civilization, revised and expanded edition: A thousand-year history. Mit Press.