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1200
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon was an English philosopher, scientist, and Franciscan Monk. He was in favor of scientific experimentation, and was called Doctor Mirabilis, which meant wonderful teacher. People started to challenge the traditional way of thinking, which was with religion and magic. They started using experiments and mathematics to explain the big mysteries of their time. -
1500
New Tools for Observation
Scientists in the early 1500's used new methods of finding the truth to theories. They used scientific instruments, mathematics, and experiments. This started to rapidly increase people's knowledge of the world. This started the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. They invented the barometer, which measures barometric pressure, the microscope, which allowed people to view things at the molecular level, the telescope which people viewed stars and planets, and others instruments also. -
1500
Bacteria
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch scientist, discovered bacteria using a microscope. At the time he called them animalcules. He also studied and drew many other types of life forms and bacterica, that have never been see before. -
1500
Scientific Method
Scientists used a new way of testing theories called the Scientific Method. They would use their new tools and conduct experiments based off of what they could sense. They would repeat their experiments to make sure that their findings were true. After they were able to prove their theories true, they would check and apply measurements with mathematics. This method was a more efficient way of proving their theories are true. -
1543
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus created the heliocentric theory, or the sun centered theory. Before Copernicus, the astronomer Ptolemy stated that the earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus realized that this theory proved many things that they already knew about astronomy. Copernicus publish his theory and findings in 1543. When he did this the majority of people didn't believe him, because it contradicts what they could see and feel. -
1543
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius was a Yemish scientist that went into study of anatomy. He refused to believe earlier studies which were created by Galen 400 years earlier. In 1543, he published On the Fabric of the Human Body, a 7-volume book that showed amazingly detailed drawings of the human body. This created an opportunity for people to visually see what is happening inside them. Vesalius also drew complex parts of the body, and showed how they work together. -
1550
Calculus
In the 1500s and 1600s, many other breakthroughs were happening in Europe. German man Gottfried Liebnitz and English man Isaac Newton invented calculus, a new branch for mathematics. They both developed this at separate times, in separate places! -
1578
William Harvey
William Harvey was an English physician that was just as important as Andreas Vesalius. Harvey studied the circulation of blood in the body by conducting laboratory experiments. He could show us how blood cells moved through the veins and arteries. In addition to this, he showed us how the heart works. -
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, who wanted to prove Copernicus's heliocentric theory. Copernicus didn't have the tools to prove his theory, but Kepler did. He used models, mathematics and, observation to prove that Copernicus's theory was true. Kepler needed to work out some flaws in Copernicus's theory, and was slowed down a bit. He published his laws and theory in 1609, but they weren't very clear. -
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon was an English philosopher and scientist and live around the same time period as Descartes. He believed that theories can be made only using observation. He stated that nothing could be trusted unless it could be proved again and again using experiments. He also believed that you need to be able to see this physically, rather than with thinking. He published Novum Organum in 1620, which showed his new way of thinking. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo was an Italian scientist that provided clear evidence that Copernicus's theory was true. He read of a Dutch device that magnified things. He created his own telescope, which he observed many things in space from. He saw mountains on the moon, rings on Saturn, and spots on the sun. He drew what he saw from his telescope on paper, and then used them to argue that not all bodies in space revolve around the earth. He published his findings in 1632. and caused a great uproar from many people. -
The Study of Objects in Motion
After Galileo proved that the heliocentric theory was true, many people were mad with him. They still believed that the earth was the center of the universe, and also said that his theory contradicts the Bible. Other people believed that it was an invention of the devil. Scholars in physics were mad with him as well. He proved that all objects fall at the same rate, so there is no friction from the air. He created the basis of modern science of mechanics, which is the study of objects in motion. -
René Descartes
René Descartes was a French philosopher and mathematician. He greatly advanced the world in the areas of mathematics, science, and philosophy. He published a book in 1637, named Discourse on Method. It stated that all assumptions needed to be supported by evidence. He also believed that all fields of science were connected. He created the law of refraction, which is used in the study of optics. This happens when a light reflects off of a smooth surface. -
Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton published a book in 1687 expanding upon Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo. They told that bodies revolved around the sun and not the earth, but they didn't prove it. Newton first formed the law of universal gravitation which stated that all bodies attract to each other. Newton explained the laws of motion, and created a mathematical system of measuring motion. Newton's findings are still used today and have changed to way people think of the world. They started to accept new theories. -
Matter
Antoine Lavoisier was a French scientist that had many breakthroughs in science. Before he knew all of this, people believed that fire was an element. He disproved this, and also explained that this happens when oxygen is burned. He also proved that matter can be changed but cannot be destroyed or created. This is known as the law of conservation of matter. It is a very important law in chemistry.
