1. THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION:
A REVOLUTION IN
WORLDVIEW
AP European History
St. Anne’s-Belfield

2. + =
The Scientific Revolution was a
continuation of the intellectual
movements which rose during the Late
Middle Ages, shaped the Renaissance
and Reformation, and came to destroy
the medieval view of man and the
universe

3. + =

4. + =
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

5. Importance and ability of the individual + =
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

6. Importance and ability of the individual + =
(Renaissance Humanism)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

7. Importance and ability of the individual + mechanistic view of the universe =
(Renaissance Humanism)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

8. Importance and ability of the individual + mechanistic view of the universe =
(Renaissance Humanism) (Scientific Revolution)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

9. Importance and ability of the individual + mechanistic view of the universe = Modern Worldview
(Renaissance Humanism) (Scientific Revolution) (Modernism)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view

10. Importance and ability of the individual + mechanistic view of the universe = Modern Worldview
(Renaissance Humanism) (Scientific Revolution) (Modernism)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view
Two things to remember about the Scientific Revolution.
1. It is a series of interconnected events which taken together
profoundly changed the way Europeans saw the universe and their
place in it
2. The Scientific Revolution was not intuitive

11. Importance and ability of the individual + mechanistic view of the universe = Modern Worldview
(Renaissance Humanism) (Scientific Revolution) (Modernism)
The Scientific Revolution represents the greatest Western
revolution in world view
Two things to remember about the Scientific Revolution.
1. It is a series of interconnected events which taken together
profoundly changed the way Europeans saw the universe and their
place in it
2. The Scientific Revolution was not intuitive
In what field of study did the Scientific Revolution begin?

12. CO-MINGLING OF
ANCIENT THEORIES AND
CHRISTIANITY
characterize the medieval mind

13. CO-MINGLING OF
ANCIENT THEORIES AND
CHRISTIANITY
characterize the medieval mind

14. The GEOCENTRIC perspective of a fixed earth.
This segment traces out the path of the Sun and Mars, showing
Mars through one evolution of its retrograde motion as seen
from the Earth. From this "geocentric" perspective, the true
orbital paths of Venus and Mercury trace out complex looping
motions.

20. What do you think Francis Bacon would have
thought about Nicholas Copernicus and his
heliocentric theory?

21. What do you think Francis Bacon would have
thought about Nicholas Copernicus and his
heliocentric theory?
But even though Aristotle were the man he is thought to be, I should
still warn you against receiving as oracles the thoughts and
opinions of one man. What justification can there be for this self-
imposed servitude [that} . . . you are content to repeat Aristotle's
[thoughts] after two thousand [years]? But if you will be guided
by me, you will deny, not only to this man but to any mortal now
living or who shall live hereafter, the right to dictate your
opinions. . . . You will never be sorry for trusting your own
strength, if you but once make trial of it. You may be inferior to
Aristotle on the whole, but not in everything. Finally, and this is the
head and front of the whole matter, there is at least one thing in
which you are far ahead of him-in precedents, in experience, in the
lessons of time... Assert yourselves before it is too late. Apply
yourselves to the study of things themselves. Be not forever the
property of one man.

22. Bacon’s Idols

23. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave

24. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave
• Arise within the mind of the individual. Predispositions,
biases created by education, interest, etc. that obstruct an
individual’s reason and truth

25. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave
• Arise within the mind of the individual. Predispositions,
biases created by education, interest, etc. that obstruct an
individual’s reason and truth
Idols of the Marketplace

26. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave
• Arise within the mind of the individual. Predispositions,
biases created by education, interest, etc. that obstruct an
individual’s reason and truth
Idols of the Marketplace
• The distortion of ideas created by trying to translate them
into words

27. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave
• Arise within the mind of the individual. Predispositions,
biases created by education, interest, etc. that obstruct an
individual’s reason and truth
Idols of the Marketplace
• The distortion of ideas created by trying to translate them
into words
Idols of the Theater

28. Bacon’s Idols
Idols of the Cave
• Arise within the mind of the individual. Predispositions,
biases created by education, interest, etc. that obstruct an
individual’s reason and truth
Idols of the Marketplace
• The distortion of ideas created by trying to translate them
into words
Idols of the Theater
• Ideas/theories/beliefs created in different fields that because
they are defended by learned groups, are accepted without
question by the masses. When false ideas/theories/beliefs
are accepted by the masses, the are no longer questioned.

29. What do you think Francis Bacon would have
thought about Nicholas Copernicus and his
heliocentric theory?

33. Galileo’s Findings
• Venus
• “Thought Experiment” using a ball and a horse
• Sunspots

34. Galileo’s Findings
• Venus
• “Thought Experiment” using a ball and a horse
• Sunspots
Lessons to be drawn from
scientific discoveries...

35. Galileo’s Findings
• Venus
• “Thought Experiment” using a ball and a horse
• Sunspots
Lessons to be drawn from
scientific discoveries...
The universe is physical (material) and mathematical,
just like the earth and our bodies

36. Galileo’s Findings
• Venus
• “Thought Experiment” using a ball and a horse
• Sunspots
Lessons to be drawn from
scientific discoveries...
The universe is physical (material) and mathematical,
just like the earth and our bodies
The laws which govern the earth can be applied to the
rest of the universe (materialistic worldview)

37. Galileo’s Findings
• Venus
• “Thought Experiment” using a ball and a horse
• Sunspots
Lessons to be drawn from
scientific discoveries...
The universe is physical (material) and mathematical,
just like the earth and our bodies
The laws which govern the earth can be applied to the
rest of the universe (materialistic worldview)
Mathematics and calculation must replace intuition

38. What do you think Francis Bacon would have
thought about Nicholas Copernicus and his
heliocentric theory?