Scientific Revolution

*This table is not exhaustive elaborations can be found in your notes and you may have your own points to add on based on your notes or what we have
discussed in class.

Effect Before the SR During the SR After the SR
Medicine Galens ideas dominated for a long
time
- Inaccurate and based more
on animal dissections,
leading to inaccurate
diagnoses
- His theory on the four bodily
humours dominated the
approaches to treatment of
disease.
Paracelsus experimented with
chemistry. He disproved Galen's idea
that chemical changes, such
transforming one substance into
another were impossible.
Vesalius questioned Galen's
authority
Galen instituted a more hands-on
style of instruction and study, all the
while working diligently on his
masterwork, On the Fabric of the
Human Body, which is considered
the first great modern work of
science, and the foundation of
modern biology.
Pare and Harvey, amongst others,
built on these new ideas and
developed better medical practices.
Medical advancements steadily
improved, based on the shift from
Galen-dominated medical thought
towards more accurate diagnoses
and better modes of treatment.
The Enlightenment - Questioning established authority.
- Held reason as the basis of their
thinking. Attacked superstition,
ignorance, and easy acceptance of
authority.
- Scientific Revolution had
The Enlightenment
- Changed the way people
lived as political and social
scholars began to question
the workings of society and
government, while rejecting
demolished old ideas. People looked
at the world in a scientific way and
everything was / is controlled by
natural laws.
- Since Newton had proved that the
universe worked in certain laws,
shouldn't man, society, government,
and education work in laws, too?
traditional ideas.
- While the Scientific
Revolution focused on the
physical world, the
Enlightenment attempted to
explain the purpose of
government, and describe
the best form of it.
- Human nature and how
humans relate to those
around them was also a
major topic of discourse.
Worldview and understanding of the
universe
Heliocentrism was the mediaeval
worldview, based on what they
observed (Earth is still, the sky
moves around it), religion (God
created man in his image and Earth
is at the centre of the universe,
based on literal interpretations of
the Bible), and ancient authorities
such as Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Aristotles and Ptolemys ideas
lasted for a long time, went
unchallenged, The Ptolemaic
universe consisting of cycles and
epicyles was very messy and what is
more, inaccurate. But it was the best
explanation available at that time.
Copernicus and his working model of
a heliocentric universe broke away
from the ancient worldview of the
Earth as being at the centre of the
universe.

Galileo proved this to be so using his
telescope his observations broke
the belief that the planets and stars
were perfect and proved that Earth
was not at the centre of the
universe.
The understanding of the universe
shifted from the mediaeval
worldview, from one that is faith-
based to one based on universal
laws (e.g. gravity).
- More accurate and proven
(through observations using
technology) understanding of the
universe emerged.
Science became widespread. Faith-based, supernatural and based The development of the Scientific Science and the language of science
on common sense this was the way
the ancients viewed the universe.
The lack of access to knowledge and
the stranglehold that the Church had
over mediaeval thought limited
learning.
Method gave a framework by which
humans could approach
understanding the world.

Science also became popular in
universities and in many cases,
supported by the monarchs (e.g.
Newton and his Royal Society).
mathematics - became popular
and the use of science in everyday
life became widespread.

The universe could be explained in
mathematical and scientific terms.
Religion and the role of the Church Church was very powerful and
influential. Had the powers to arrest
and put people on trial for crimes
against the religion such as heresy.

Religious approaches dominated
mediaeval thought. For example, the
Church preached, based on literal
interpretations of the Bible, that the
Earth was at the centre of the
universe.

People were largely illiterate and
reliant on the Church for guidance
and information.
New opinions and challenges to the
worldview arose Copernicus
started with his heliocentric model
of the universe. Whilst still
inaccurate, it was a tidier version of
the Ptolemaic universe.

Newton was able to explain motion
through his Laws of Motion and was
also able to explain the movement of
the universal through his
explanations of gravity.
Combined with the Reformation, the
Church lost much of its influence
(although this is not to say the
Church had fallen completely from
power, far from it).

People began viewing the world in a
more scientific manner; the world
can be explained using universal
laws. The need to use religion as an
explanation for the workings of the
universe grew less and less.