The Clockwork Universe

Astronomy is the study of the heavens, this was key for the Aristotelian Scholastics. They believed the celestial heavens, which is above the moon, was close to god thus all things were perfect and unchanging. Whereas, beneath the moon, known as sub lunar, was where all elements were mixed, and nothing remained constant.

Ptolemy's System agreed with this view. The earth is in the center of the universe, and the moon, sun, planets and stars revolved around the earth in perfect unchanging circular motions.

Diagram of Ptolemy's System

Aristotelian's and Scholastic's viewed the world in terms of perfection; everything moved to express qualities and purposes. 

Francis Bacon

Bacon turned violently against the Scholastic and Aristotelian approach. He strongly believed that mixing religion and science was a huge mistake, as it resulted in confusion and an obsession with word play rather then action. His book 'The New Organon' was a direct attack at Aristotle, it was made up of four teachings

1. Human Knowledge is power

2. Science and Religion should be separated

3. Knowledge is induction which should be tested through experiments*

4. Science is dynamic, we should admit to areas we do not understand 

*One of Bacon's most significant experiences, which lead to his death from pneumonia, was where he was testing whether the cold would preserve meat by stuffing a chicken with snow. Bacon was seen as a Martyr of science because of this. 

Locke on Human Understanding

Locke believe that our understanding develops through experience, which is worked on by our powers of reason to produce 'real' knowledge. He was against the idea of 'innate ideas' meaning originating from the mind, as he believed at birth our minds were a 'blank slate'. Locke believed innate ideas were not needed because God had given mankind the ability to discover knowledge and morality. When our faith goes beyond reason and experience, Locke claimed  we should be guided by private revelation but these revelations should never be imposed upon by the Church or the State.

"Our senses, our intellect, our reason - These were gifts from God" - Locke

Heliocentric Model 

Copernicus, a 16th century polish astronomer, devised a system in which the sun was the center of the universe. This contradicts Ptolemy's system, see diagram below:

Johannes Kepler, was drawn to Copernicus's unproven heliocentric hypothesis, therefore he spent decades working on data and calculations to prove 'The heliocentric model theory'. 

Galileo

Galileo was born on the day that Michelangelo died, and the day Galileo died Newton was born; this links the renaissance. Kepler influenced Galileo, after hearing that a Dutchman had lately invented a telescope, Galileo made one himself. This was a moment of true revelation; it allowed the human mind to observe the heavens with degrees of magnitude undreamed of by previous generations. Galileo discovered many important things:

1. The Milky Way consists of a multitude of separate stars

2. The phases of Venus

3. That Jupiter had moons

4. The moon had mountains and valleys 

His opponents refused to look through the telescope saying it created an optical illusion. However, Galileo was convinced that Aristotle would of. 

In addition, he concluded that there were primary and secondary qualities:-

Primary Qualities - quantitative and measurable e.g. dimension, shape and mass 

Secondary Qualities - depended on human perception, rather then 'real' objects

Galileo alleged that facts were determined by nature, not by men or books. 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa Experiment

Galileo dropped a ten-pound weight and a one-pound weight off the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to  prove that both would fall at the same speed. Aristotle's theory that the heavier object would fall ten times faster, was proved wrong. This animation sums up the experiment: 

(That nice colorful animation was your only break from all these scientific theories, sorry) 

Newton 1642 - 1727

Newton published a book 'Principia' in 1687, it entailed a mathematical demonstration of the Copernican hypothesis  proposed by Keplar. Newton convinced people for the first time that the world was ordered and knowable, this was known as 'The Clockwork Universe'. After Newton, Aristotle's physics was discredited and undermined.