Causes

First of all the main reason why this revolution started is that at the time, there were the perfect economical and political
conditions.
As reguards the economical field, science cannot be done without money, and the colonial exploitation gave all the
powerful leaders the possibility to fund scientific developement. More money than, means increased wealth The
markets required more productivity, giving rise to new technologies, such as steam power. In the end, commerce over
land burgeoned and this fact increased communication between intellectuals, then, books were much cheaper because of
the invention of the printing press.
The 16th-century Reformation splintered the Church into numerous warring camps, ending the Churchs monolithic
dominance over the European intellectual scene. In that period the nobility started dabbling in the scientific methods,
and this fact discouraged the church from interfering with it. Moreover the protestant reformation removed the
intellectual monopoly of the catholic church. Ideally a period of peace would have benefit the revolution, but instead,
constant warfare pushed for scientific developement.

Good economical conditions increased wealth.

Colonial exploitation leaders fund scientific research.
Markets required more productivity.
Communication between the intellectuals increased.
Invention of the printing press made books cheaper.
Church is discouraged from interfering with science development.
Protestant reformation removed intellectual monopoly of the catholic church.
Constant warfare pushed for scientific development.

Major thinkers
During the scientific revolution, there were many figures who played a very important role. First Copernico, who
proposed a new heliocentrical system; then j.Kepler, who found the basic laws that rule this model. But Galileo and
Newton are considered the major Thinkers of that period, due to their discovers in many fields such as physics,
mathematics and astrology.

Galileo Galilei.
Galileo Galilei ( 15 February 1564 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and
mathematician who played a major role in the scientific revolution.
-Astronomy
Galileo was a confirmed Copernican and given to the concept of circular motion. But his'facts' differed from the
traditional data of astronomy in that they were derived from qualitative telescopic observations.
In 1604 he demonstrated that the remote and static region of space was not actually static. In 1609, Galileo introduced
both the telescope and the microscope. His first observations with the telescope were published in 1610, in a 24-page
booklet entitled Messenger of the Heavens. The first half of the booklet described Galileo's observation of the surface of

the moon, which he proved was rough rather than smooth. He professed the existence of up to ten times as many
distant, seemingly fixed stars than were currently known.
In 1612, Galileo announced that through the observation of dark spots on the sun, he had concluded that the sun itself
was revolving. This announcement spawned one of his first conflicts with the Church, which considered these findings
contrary to Church doctrine. In 1616, the Inquisition warned Galileo to "abandon these opinions." A few days later, the
works of Copernicus were "suspended till corrected."
By 1630 Galileo had completed his magnum opus, Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, comparing the
Ptolemaic, or geocentric and the Copernican, or heliocentric systems, and finding the heliocentric model far superior.
-The problem of falling bodies
His early work in the 1 590s dealt with falling bodies as a problem in dynamics. He proceeded to clarify, restate, and
systematize medieval problems in kinematics while giving them a more complete mathematical expression, for
example, problems suggested by the Odd Numbers Law relating distance to time (S porporitonal to t squared) and
velocity to distance (V poportional to S), out of which he came to relate velocity to time (V proportional to T), and
eventually, S = 1/2at [squared].
After 1609, Galileo's kinematic treatment of an idealized model identified falling bodies as a case of uniformly
accelerated motion and thereafter demonstrated it with his inclined plane experiment.

-Projectile Motion.
Galileo proposed the theory of inertia, according to which an object moves or rests until something outside of it changes
its motion. In his later theory (1632), no force is necessary to keep a body moving on a level (frictionless) plane; a body,
as such, has no inclination to move or remain at rest, it is indifferent. Thus, if a body is indifferent to motion, no mover
is required to sustain movement once a body is in motion. Motion is now a state rather than a process, and rest is motion
of zero speed in a continuum.
Galileo's conception of inertia as circular motion was an attempt to save Copernican circularity, particularly in the
absence of any known force which could 'bend' rectilinear motion into an orbit.

- Galileo's Method.
1. Galileo argued that theoretical conclusions required experimental verification even if the experimentation was mental
rather than empirical.
2. He was a thinker about nature and thought in terms of ideal situations rather than the complexities of the sensate
world.
3. Expressed confidence in deductive, reasoned conclusions: Archimedean mathematics applied to physical problems
rather than extensive experimental programs.
The Dialogue brought matters to a head for Galileo. In August 1632 the sale of the book was prohibited, and its contents
examined by a special commission. Galileo was found guilty of heresy and forced to sign a recantation of his theories,
after which he was sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life. Galileo signed the recantation to save his own
life, but legend has it that as he signed the prepared document, under his breath he muttered "the Earth does move,
however.

Galileos facts differed from traditional data in that they were derived from qualitative telescopic obs.
1604 static region of space is not really static.
1609 telescope and microscope.
1612 messenger of the heavens.
1616 warned by the church.
1630 Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World
1590 s=1/2at^2
1632 theory of inertia.

Isaac Newton
VI. Isaac Newton (1642-1727) and the Newtonian Synthesis

Sir Isaac Newton's work was the capstone of the Scientific Revolution, utilizing the advances made before him in mathematics,
astronomy, and physics to derive a comprehensive understanding of the physical world.
Johannes Kepler enunciated his laws of planetary motion in 1618. Galileo determined the laws of gravity and explored the laws of
motion on earth. Newton first conclusively affirmed the laws of motion and linked them with Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Before Newton, no one had demonstrated conclusively that the movements of heavenly bodies were related to terrestrial physics.
Galileo had suggested this, but was censored by the Church before he was able to do further work to prove his theories.
The first step in Newton's work was to solidify the laws of motion that Galieo had studied and hinted at without clearly expressing.
The first law states that a body at rest tends to stay at rest; a body in motion tends to stay in motion unless compelled to change by an
applied force. The second law states that the change in motion is proportional to the applied force and takes place in the straight line
by which that force is applied. The final law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Armed with these
solidified theories of dynamics, Newton proved that the force that acted on planets and moons was the same force that caused a stone
to fall to the ground: gravity. He first demonstrated this by calculating that if one extended the same gravitational force that acted on
objects on the surface of the Earth to the distance of the moon, it predicted nearly exactly the same orbit that was observed.
The concept of universal gravitation--that every particle of matter attracts every other particle with a force proportional to the product
of the two masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them--is Newton's major contribution to science
and the centerpiece of his work. The observed structure of the solar system was perfectly explained by assuming that the major
organizing force among heavenly bodies was gravity. In order to apply the theory of universal gravitation to heavenly bodies with
curved paths through space, Newton built upon the contributions of the mathematicians of the age and developed calculus. Using this
tool he discovered that the attraction exerted by a spherical body on an external point could be calculated by assuming the mass of
the body was concentrated at its precise center. This theory was the final step in producing accurate calculations, and soon the
mechanisms of organization in the universe became clear to him.

A. Elements of the Synthetic, "New" Physics.

1. Galileo's idealized formulation of the law of freely falling bodies, s = 1 /2at^2
2. Galielo's analysis of terrestrial inertia: a body is indifferent to uniform rectilinear motion and is as 'natural' as rest.
3. Descartes' conception of rectilinear inertia existing in Euclidean space and the implied rejection of priviledged spatial position.
4. Kepler's 'discovery' of his three laws of celestial motion, especially the The Third Law, T squared is proportional to the mean
Radius cubed.
B. The Problem and the Test Case: Lunar Motion.
1. Lunar motion was essential to both Aristotle and Newton:
a. The lunar orbit was the demarcation line for the Aristotelian two-world system (sublunar/superlunar regions).

b. The connection of lunar-terrestrial motion under the same principle was the crux of the Newtonian argument.
2. Newtonian assumptions:
a. The Copernican hypothesis: the earth is a planet.
b. The hypothesis that inter-planetary space is empty, that is, free space.
3. The problem was to explain the configuration of planetary orbits, that is, what mechanism or force can account for the orbital
alteration of a planet's rectilinear path.

Demonstrates that movements of heavenly bodies were related to terrestrial physics

solidifies the laws of motion that Galieo had studied and hinted