I INTRODUCTION

Last time, noted that the 16th and 17th centuries began on the brink of chaos.  Nearly everything taken for granted in earlier centuries had changed, was changing, or was about to change. Looked at economic, social, political, and religous changes.  Today: changes in another area, science. During this time, people's entire view of natural world changed--probably the greatest change in view of the world in all of history.  Not surprising that these changes brought conflicts.  These conflicts often depicted as a conflict between science and religion.  As one looks closely, one sees that this isn't entirely the case.  Religion often encouraged science, and opposition to change often came from withing the scientific community!

SCIENCE IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Yes, there was ancient science, and, no, educated people in the ancient world didn't think the world was flat. Eratosthenes (Greek scientist) guessed circumference of the earth within 200 miles--over 2,0000 years ago!  And there were many other areas of achievement:

1. Galen--worked with medicine
2. Euclid--mathematician
3. Ptolemy (astronomy and geography)
4. Aristotle (biology, zoology, physics)

SCIENCE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

1.  Little science in the Early Middle Ages beccause Europe not as wealthy.  When the Roman Empire was dissolved, the economy  was destroyed-- no money for new work in the sciences.

2. Europe becoming wealthier around 1000 A.D, but still no science.  Why?  A great Medieval synthesis of knowledge, combining all the great ideas of the ancient world, dominated thinking.  This great system seemed to explain everything from movement, to disease, to theology, and gave people the false impression that they basically understood everything there was to be understood.  This created a blind spot for new discoveries and ideas, and left no incentive for looking for new explanations.

CHALLENGES TO THE MEDIEVAL SYNTHESIS

1.  Columbus indirectly helped break the synthesis apart--discovered new continents (ancients knew nothing of the Americas).
Discovered new plants and animals--showed Europe there was other stuff beyond what was known in ancient world.  Columbus inspired by religion. Felt called by God--faith kept him going.  Scientists (ironically)  hindered him.  Scientists told potential sponsors that the propose journey wasn’t possible given the technology of the time--and they were right!  Columbus underestimated circumference of the earth, and, had he not found two unexpected continents where he *thought* Asia was, he would have had to turn back with nothing!

2.  In the 17th centuries, many other discoveries of things not known in ancient world  Hooke (springs) Boyle and Charles (behavior of gasses), Leeuwenhoek (microscope--and a whole now world of microbes!)

3.  More controversial: William Harvey's  discovery of  circulation of blood.  This opposed by many physicians who championed the old ideas of Galen--partly perhaps because they didn’t want to lose patients, but also because (rightly) they tended to regard new medical treatments as dangerous.  There's a good reason to be a bit conservative when it comes to medicine!

CHANGES IN ASTRONOMY

1.  Up to 16th century, most Europeans accepted ideas of Ptolemy who said earth stood fixed and everything else orbited the earth.  Not a stupid idea!  Hundreds of years of "scientific" observation (including our own observations) would seem to suggest that this is exactly the case!!!

2. N. Copernicus (early 16th c.) believed sun was center of universe--heliocentric theory.  Not a problem for the religious community at this point.  Copernicus had a Catholic education, taught in a Catholic school, and even dedicated his book to the pope (thinking church would find such ideas valuable, most probably).  Copernicus' own religious/philosophical ideas were what led to his theory in the first place.  The heavens, he believed, were the realm of God’s perfection.  They must be built on the perfect shape (the sphere) and on perfect motion (regular spherical motion).  Ptolemy's ideas also involved "perfect" heavenly spheres, but the motion of the planets makes this complicated.  Way too many spheres involved!  So Copernicus comes up with a system which simplifies things.  *Not* immediately accepted by all scientists--Copernicus ideas intriguing, but not convining.  Not enough observational evidence to back him up.

3. Tycho Brache (1546-1601) provided considerable additional data. Studied at a Lutheran university--made accurate planet observations.  His theory: sun goes around the earth, all other planets around the sun.  (Complicated, but what do you expect from a guy who fights a duel to prove that he's a great mathematician and who has a nose made out of gold, silver, and copper.)

4. J. Kepler (1571-1630) takes Brache’s data and finally gets the right answer! Discovers three laws of planetary motion.  Concludes that planets travel in *eliptical* orbits around sun.  Note why answer was so hard to come up with.  Paradigm said things in the heavens traveled in spherical orbits.  Ptolemy, Copernicus, and Tycho Brache all stuck with idea.  How did Kepler break paradigm?  He claimed it was divine intervention--that he could never have succeeded by his own efforts.  He said he constantly prayed to God "that he might succeed if what Copernicus had said was true."

5.  Galileo G. (1564-1642).  This Italian scientist did very important work in physics, finally breaking away from Aristotle's theories.  He did work with falling bodies, and with mechanics, investigating (among other things) the working of  the pendulum.  This paved way for Newton.  Galileo also the first to use telescope for astronomy, and was the first to see all sorts of stuff including the moons of Jupiter.  His book, the Starry Messenger was well received and encouraged by the church.  Galileo received a private audience with the Pope!  But his observations made him think perhaps Copernicus had been on the right track.  He collects evidence on both sides, and presents it in his Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems. The book gives the edge to Copernicus over Ptolemy--and makes the "academic philosophers" and professors angry!  When they couldn’t prove him wrong with scientic evidence, they accused him of  HERESY.  Because of church problems with Luther, Calvin, and the Anglicans, church was expecially sensitive to potential for division.  The Jesuits, in particular, were zealous in their defense of traditional belief--and with good reason!  Look at the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries!  It did seem that religious division was something to be worried about.  Galileo was tried for heresy, and given the choice of condemnation or recanting his teachings.  He recanted!  And went on to other things. Scientific truth not important enough to die for!

6. I. Newton (1642-1727).  English scientist, invented calculus and what we now call classical physics, breaking away completely from Aristotle. Probably the greatest scientist in history.  Alexander Pope rightly said, "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night; God said, Let Newton be! and All was Light."  Newton proved Kepler correct, showing not only that the planets move in eliptical orbit around the sun, but explaining exactly why they did so.  Newton, like Kepler, inspired by religion.  His strong belief in a law-giving God was made him seek God's laws for the material universe.  His "Optics" sometimes reads like a theology text, and Newton spent his last days in intense study of the books of Daniel and Revelation.  There was a Newton's theology a potential challenge to earlier notions, and some of Newton's ideas could be construed as potentially heretical, but there's certainly no overt conflict with the church.  No.  The opposition to Newton came from within the scientific community--and in particular, from Robert Hooke.  Hooke, probably the 2nd greatest scientist in England at the time, was intensely jealous.  He kept claiming that he had discovered Newton's ideas before Newton and put down Newton in various ways. Newton, who was shy and dreaded conflict, left much of his work unpublished for fear of Hooke's challenges.  Only the encouragement of his friend Edmund Halley got Newton to publish his Principia--the most important scientific work ever written.