The Scientific Revolution

Discoveries and Inventions

7.10.2
The Big Idea
During the Scientific Revolution, new
ideas and inventions changed the
nature of knowledge.
 The Discovery of the
Americas
• Main Idea 1:
• The discovery of
the Americas led
scholars to doubt
ancient Greek
Ptolemy ideas.
The Americas:
North & South

America
 The Discovery of the Doh
Christopher
Americas Columbus

• In 1492, Christopher Columbus set out to

sail to Asia using a map created by the
ancient Greek Ptolemy. Instead of landing
in Asia, Columbus reached North America.
• The accidental discovery of this land proved that
the ancient Greek authorities were not always
right. This led people to question the
theories of the ancient Greeks.

Christopher Columbus lands in the

Bahamas (in the Americas), not in India
(which is in Asia) like he first thought.
 The Discovery of the Americas

• The ancient Greeks had been the authority on

many things, including geography, but the
discovery of the Americas made Europeans
begin to doubt the Greeks.

• Greek map maker, Ptolemy, did not have the

Americas on his maps.
• People began to wonder – “What other things might
the Greeks be wrong about?” As a result, many
people began to investigate things for themselves.
Huh
?
Here is Ptolemy’s map of the world that Columbus used in his travels. Notice that
there is no mention of the Americas? Ptolemy does have Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Their labels are circled in orange on the map.
Advances in Astronomy

• Main Idea 2:
• Advances in astronomy were key
events of the Scientific Revolution.
Advances in Astronomy Heck yes
I did.

• In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published a

book that contradicted what the Greek
authorities had written. Many historians
believe that this book marked the
beginning of the Scientific Revolution.

Copernicus’ book - On the

Revolution of the Celestial Spheres
Advances in Astronomy
Now looky,
I say, looky
here.

• The Greeks believed • Copernicus said

the earth was at the the planets orbited
center of the universe. the sun.
Advances in Astronomy

• Tycho Brahe charted the positions of

hundreds of stars, using careful
observation and detailed recordings.
Tycho
Brahe
Advances in Astronomy

• Johannes Kepler observed that

planets moved in oval orbits, not
circular ones.
yesss
Kepler’s
model

Circle

Oval
Advances in Astronomy
wow

• Galileo Galilei was the first

person to study the sky with a
telescope. He used experiments
to test his theories.
• Galileo discovered craters &
mountains on the moon. He also
discovered that moons orbit
Jupiter.

Galileo Galilei
Advances in Astronomy

• Galileo was the first scientist

to routinely use experiments
to test his theories.
• He is remembered as the father
of experimental science.

Galileo Galilei
This painting shows Galileo defending himself before Church officials.
Many of Galileo’s ideas went against the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Even though the Catholic Church was very angry with him, Galileo was a
committed Catholic and a firm believer in Christianity.
Sir Isaac Newton
I am so smart, I am so
smart. S m r t. I mean
s m a r t.

• Main Idea 3:
• Sir Isaac Newton
developed laws that
explained much of
the natural world.

Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton

• The high point of the Scientific Revolution

was marked by the publication of a book by
a very famous scientist, Sir Isaac Newton.
• Sir Isaac Newton was a British scientist, who
wrote the book Principia Mathematica.

Sir Isaac
Newton
 Sir Isaac Newton
• Newton studied and simplified the work of
earlier scientists. He coupled it with his own
observations and identified four theories that
prove how the world works.
• Some of the theories have been proved so
many times that they are now called laws.

Sir Isaac
Newton
Sir Isaac Newton
• One of Newton’s laws is Sir Isaac
called the law of gravity.
Newton

• Gravity is the force that makes a

dropped object fall to the ground.
(The law of gravity is shown on the left)

• Gravity also keeps the planets in orbit

around the sun.
Sir Isaac Newton
• The other three laws are Sir Isaac
called the laws of Newton

motion.
• They describe how an object moves in
space. You may have heard one of them:
“For every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction.”
(The laws of motion are displayed on the right.
Notice that the hitting of one marble causes the
other marble at the opposite end to move – and
vice versa/)
Sir Isaac Newton
• Newton also invented calculus, Sir Isaac
a branchNewton

of mathematics.
• This form of mathematics is used by
scientists to solve complex problems.

a graphed calculus equation

New Inventions

• Main Idea 4:
• New inventions helped scientists
study the natural world.
New Inventions

• A Dutch scientist (Antoni van Leeuwenhoek)

was the the first to use a simple microscope
as a scientific instrument.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek’s

simple microscope.
New Inventions

• Galileo invented the first thermometer

and built a much-improved telescope.

Galileo
Galilei 3 thermometers a telescope
New Inventions

• The barometer was invented to measure

air pressure.
• Barometers are used to help forecast
the weather.

The barometer (left) was

invented by the Italian scientist
Evangelista Torricelli.
 New Inventions

• These inventions gave scientists the

tools they needed to make more
accurate observations and to conduct
experiments.
microscope thermometer telescope
barometer
1. Whose maps did Columbus use when
he happened to land in the Americas?

A. Newton

B. Aristotle

C. Ptolemy

D. Copernicus
 2. Who discovered the law of
gravity?
A. Newton

B. Galileo

C. Copernicus

D. Kepler
3. Which letter shows an invention that was
not improved or invented during the
Scientific Revolution?
A. telescope

B. microscope

C. stethoscope

D. barometer
 4. Whose view of the
universe is shown below?
A. the Greeks

B. Copernicus

C. Newton

D. Kepler
5. Kepler discovered that planets orbit
the sun in a perfect circular motion.

A. True

B. False
- He discovered that
planets orbit the sun in
an oval motion.