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What was the

Scientific

Revolution?

It was a period in European history when discoveries in astronomy, physics, and biology laid the foundations for modern science. These new ideas led people to challenge the teachings of the past and the way they that thought about the world.

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Anton ^von( (‘"croscopethat buift a P^owe^ '^ects 270 times. coutd magnify _{drop 0}f water Whenhep'aced ad P _dt,_ny

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Telescope

(c. 1600)

Microscope

(1590)

The iiwention of the printing press (c. 1450) helped spread the ideas of the Renaissance (c. 1400-1550) when scholars rediscovered Greek and Latin learning.

Printed books also played a key role in the Reformation, the religious controversy that divided the Church between Roman Catholics and Protestants inthe 1500s.

The Bibie was printed ^: in most European languages. It was often the only book in people’s homes and helped spread literacy.

c.1450

German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg develops a printing press using movable type

1517

Beginning of the Reformation

1543

Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius publishes the first modern study of human anatomy

1582

The Gregorian calendar (the one in use today) is introduced

1603

The Academy of the Lynx, in Romę, is the first scientific society

1609

German astronomer Johannes Kepler shows that the planets travel around the Sun in elliptical rather than circular orbits

1637

French mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes publishes his findings on the links between geometry and algebra

1642

Frenchman Blaise Pascal invents a mechanical calculator

1660

The Royal Society for the study of science is founded in England

Stargazer

No one had thought of using a telescope for astronomical purposes until Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei built one in 1608. Fle used it to observe the craters on the Moon and later discovered the four major moons of Jupiter.

Astronomy row

O In 1543, Polish astronomer and priest Nicolaus Copernicus published a book showing that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and is orbited by Earth and other planets.

His argument directly opposed the teachings of the Church, which were taken from a verse in the Bibie that says Earth is the fixed center of the universe.

Galileo, the leading astronomer and mathematician of his day, wrote a book supporting the views of Copernicus.

• The Church authorities put Galileo on trial and he was forced to take back his words.

Cln 1992, 350 years after his death, the Roman Catholic Church publicly admitted that Galileo was right.

(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. Ali Rights R

Ten useful inventions

Barometer

(1643)

Air

pump

(1650)