The Scientific Revolution refers to the spectacular and unprecedented growth of

intellectualism in the 16th and 17th centuries. The foundations of the modern world view were laid
during these years, and tremendous advances in various branch of science were made. However,
this period is important not so much for its scientific discoveries as for a shift in the outlook of
man’s perception of the universe and his place in it. In fact, there was an attempt at divorcing
the material world from the spiritual one. Empirical observation and scientific method now
attained importance, and not religious belief or speculation.

The most striking changes occurred in Cosmology. The Ptolemaic idea of an earth-
centric cosmos, with other celestial bodies revolving around it uniformly in circular orbits, was
proved as wrong by Nicholas Copernicus. In fact, the Scientific Revolution can be said to have
begun with his revolutionary discovery of the rotation of the earth on its axis and its motion
around a fixed sun, which was the center of the universe. He based these assertions on
mathematical calculations, not astronomical observations. His theory opened up the idea of an
open universe, with the earth being a small part of it. However, it was highly complex and
technically far from satisfactory. More solid arguments were thus needed, before the Copernican
theory could be established and profitably used.

It was Tycho Brahe, a Danish scientist, who made a major contribution by plotting the
paths of the moon and planets. He was influenced by Copernicus’ work but he preferred a
system of his own, in which the sun turned around the earth but the planets turned around sun.
His greatest contribution however, lay in his method of systematic observation of natural
phenomena over an extended period of time and a willingness to draw the logical conclusions
from the observed data and calculations.

Tycho’s results gained more value when they were worked over by Johannes Kepler, who
put forward the hypothesis of elliptical orbits. Together with two other laws by which he
explained the speed of the planet in its orbit, he removed the main astronomical objections to
the Copernican explanation. They also shattered the Pythagorean-Platonic view of the circular
motion of heavenly bodies.

In the early 17th century, Galileo used the telescope to study the heavens, which yielded
startling discoveries that proved and popularized the Copernican hypothesis. He found that the
moon, instead of being a perfect sphere, was covered with seas and mountains; the planet Venus
showed phases like the moon; around Jupiter circled three stars or moons; and that there was a
ring around Saturn. He also mathematically demonstrated the laws, which governed the motion
of bodies. He concluded that speed depended directly on the time the body was falling, and that
bodies followed a parabolic path in the absence of air.

The achievements of Galileo and Kepler were made possible due to the new mathematics
that had blossomed with the Renaissance. Vieta had taken the decisive step of making all
algebraic argument symbolic by using letters for both known and unknown quantities not only
in algebra but also in trigonometry. This speeded up calculations. Another step forward was in
1585, when Simon Stevin introduced decimals, and in 1614, when Napier introduced logarithms.

Other ancillary developments also took place in this period which helped the
development of mainstream science. In 1600, William Gilbert in his ‘De Magnete’ through a
series of precise and carefully recorded experiments concluded that the earth was a magnet and
it was magnetic force which held the planets on their courses. This also explained the behaviour
of the compass. William Harvey proved logically that blood circulates in the body (1628). He
showed that the body was like a hydraulic machine and the heart was its pump. This mechanical
explanation of the movement of blood in the body took the focus away from the spirit in the
body. Robert Boyle worked on the vacuum and gas level and inferred that the volume of gases
varies inversely according to the pressure. From this arose the discovery of the steam engine.
Robert Hooke studied elasticity and discovered what is known as Hooke’s Law, i.e. extension is
proportional to force. He invented the balance wheel, the use of which made possible accurate
watches and chronometers. He also wrote Micrographia, the first systematic account of the
microscopic world, including the discovery of cells.

The final stage in this transformation from the Aristotelian world picture, however, came
with Isaac Newton. He found the mathematical method for converting physical principles into
qualitative but calculable results, confirmable by observation, called infinitesimal calculus. It
helped the understanding of variables and motion, and hence laid the foundations for
mechanical engineering. It also showed how to calculate the masses of the sun, earth, planets
and other satellites. The ‘Principa Mathematicia’ embodied Newton’s solution of planetary
motions, where he demonstrated how universal gravity could maintain the system of the world.
He also found the solution of the problem of colour. By a brilliant combination of experimental
technique and logic, he was able to show that the colours are not created but are the intrinsic
components of white light, a heterogeneous mixture of rays.

The stage for the popularization of scientific discoveries of the 17th century was set by the
philosophies of Bacon and Descartes, which came up in the context of England. Together they
raised the status of experimental science among non-scientists. Francis Bacon expounded the
inductive method of experiment and observation in his Novum Organum and emphasized the
essentially practical side of the new movement, its applications to the improvement of the arts,
and its usefulness in bringing about a more common-sense appreciation of the world round
them. Bacon’s scientific enterprise was dedicated to a supremely religious end, and he believed it
constituted the truest form of religious worship.

Rene Descartes in his ‘Discourse on Method’, held that with clarity of thought it should
be possible to discover everything rationally knowable, experiment coming in essentially as an
auxiliary to deductive thought. His main contribution was the Cartesian system and the use of
coordinate geometry. It broke down the old distinction between geometry and algebra. He also
divided the universe into the physical and moral and made a clear distinction between matter
and mind, which became an integral part of philosophy. Extension and movement were the only
physical realities that he recognized as ‘primary’. Other aspects of existence such as colours,
tastes and smells were referred to as ‘secondary qualities’. Science was concerned with the
former, not the latter. The effect of this dualism was that it enabled scientists to carry on their
work free from religious interference.

The role played by scientific institutions in the spread of science has also been
acknowledged. The first well-established scientific societies were the Royal Society of London
(1662); and the French Royal Academy (1666), established in Paris by Louis XIV. They arose
originally from informal gatherings of those interested in new sciences and developed from
earlier societies like Gresham College, and gradually developed as public spheres for scientists to
come together and share their ideas. The publications showed that they covered almost every of
nature both also received royal approval, probably because of their contribution to trade and
navigation.