Lesson+on+Origins+and+Causes+of+the+Scientific+Revolution+(1+Feb)

HI GUYS. Please put your paras from monday's lesson here? Along with any other notes you took during the lesson/ thoughts/ questions/ whatever. (:

D. The most important cause of the scientific revolution was the repudiation of widely accepted ancient authorities by newly-available Greek & Roman texts. These texts contradicted existing beliefs about the state of the world, exposing potential weaknesses in the accepted paradigm. Simultaneously, alchemy was gaining popularity in Europe; though its conception was inherently flawed, the process of experimentation led to the development of a rudimentary scientific method of sorts. These practices that arose provided a basic framework by which scientists of the time could test conflicting theories, leading to new scientific research & observations that overturned previously untouchable theories.

Stuff That Mr Tan Wrote On My Paper:
 * [alchemy] laid the foundation of the scientific method
 * empiricism (gaining knowledge through experience & direct observation instead of through abstract logical thought)
 * experimentation

Breakdown of [the normal scientific process] is not, of course, the only ingredient of the astronomical crisis that faced Copernicus. An extended treatment would also discuss the social pressure of calendar reform, a pressure that made the puzzle of precession particularly urgent. In addition, a fuller account would consider medieval criticism of Aristotle, the rise of Renaissance Neoplatonism, and other significant historical elements besides. But technical breakdown would still remain the core of the crisis. In a mature science- and astronomy had become that in antiquity- external factors like those cited above are principally significant in determining the timing of breakdown, the ease with which it can be recognized, and the area in which, because it is given particular attention, the breakdown first occurs. -Thomas Kuhn

Ideas we have generated during our small discussion (the one where we went round-robin!):

- Own curiosity?
 * __Extract B; last sentence:__**

- Why were the stuff designed not used? - Besides religious beliefs, art, nature, there were also technical aspects (war, how to control nature etc.)
 * __Extract D, first sentence:__**

- believed in God - motivated by God to find out how the world worked about them - Religion restricted their scope of thinking - What about uneducated Europeans? Why didn't explore other areas of thinking? Was church so harsh? - People had bigger scope of minds - Why only educated people wondered?
 * __Extract A, first sentence:__**

- Religion=> overpowered by it for a long time, "strict guideline" - Curiosity to discover which school of thought was correct, with many people coming up with many different theories - More works available=> made people question and increase curiosity levels - Nicolaus Copernicius started it? - technical problems - Renaissance artists' desires to imitiate nature - printing process - Why did people dare to question religious authority? Connection between God and Bible=> answer not found in Bible, question?
 * __Causes of SR:__**

<3 gladys

Most important cause of the SR: Math

The most important cause of the Scientific Revolution was the need for mathematics to solve technical problems in the real world. More mathematical reasonings were made during the 16th to 17th Century, due to the rediscovery of works of ancient mathematicians. Mathematics allowed people to solve techninal problems to address the needs of the voyages, such as navigation, military science and geography. These problems required more accurate measurements and people realised that the key to solve therese real-life problems was Math. The people's perception that God was the answer to all of their questions drifted away and there was a widespread belief that Math was also the link to other disciplines of study, like the arts, science and astronomy. For example, Leonardo da Vinci drew the vitruvian man, which was the near-accurate drawing of the human anatomy, which required geometrical proportions. Also, the idea of math was promoted by famous scientists like Galileo, Copernicus etc. as they believed that math could be used to explain the working concept behind science, and their combined efforts ultimately led to the Scientific Revolution, thus proving that the need for mathematics to solve technical problems was the most important cause of the Scientific Revolution.

(Joan, Cui Qin, Gladys, Yijun)

Comments: need more evidence!

Hey I'm here to post my group's short paragraph(s) about the most important/significant cause of the Scientific Revolution. Well, the last few lines are a little abrupt though... Feel free to edit/comment!

Most important/significant cause: Influence of Mathematics

The Scientific Revolution was the time between the death of Copernicus in 1543 and the workds of Isaac Newton in the 1680s. It can be defined as a period of great change in the way of thinking, whereby there were many developments in the realm of science. The Scientific Revolution was brought about by various events, actions and decisions. In our opinion, the influence of Mathematics was the key cause of the Scientific Revolution. According to Leornado da Vinci, since God eventually geometrizes, nature is inherently mathematical. " There is no certainty where one can neither apply any of the mathematical sciences nor any of those which are based upon the mathematical sciences". As can be inferred from what Leonardo da Vinci said, people at that time felt a sense of assurance with the use of Mathematics to solve their problems for it promoted a degree of certainty, which satisfied human's desire to quantify and obtain definite and accurate answers. Before the wide-spread use of Mathematics, people did not see a need to solve their practical problems and relied on the Church to define the world around them. Hence, the use of Mathematics changed the way at which people sought answers to their questions. This change was the first step to the Scientific Revolution. Furthermore, Mathematics was the key to navigation. It helped to solve navigational problems which was crucial in safe sea expeditions. Having solved navigational problems, it allowed more trade to occur, allowing more people to interact. Hence, it not only helped to expose people to other schools of thoughts, it also helped to spread new ideas from one country to another. Thus, Mathematics also indirectly allowed innovative ideas to spread quickly to other parts of the world. Therefore, we think that the most important cause of the Scientific Revolution is the influence of Mathematics.

(Done by: Koshae, Clara, Hsin Pei, Xiao Han, Marjorie)

Hey! :D haha sorry for the lateness but here is my group's para! :D (am i supposed to post it here? :P i am still lost with wikispaces!)

Most important/significant cause: Religion

The importance and impacts of God in the lives of members of a theocentric society led to interest in 'God's Handiwork' and the natural world. Both scientists and artisans took this development in different directions- research and analysis of the natural world and an artistic desire to imitate nature. As more information was uncovered, they found that their classical theories wer unable to account for the new discoveries and thus they wre overturned and replaced by new theories which led to new ways of thinking (eg. Galileo Galilei) and the modern inventions (eg. Bible printing) that produced products avaliable to the common people that resulted in change so vast they resulted in a Revolution.

(Done by: Laura, Nicole, Min Ee, Joelle)