Major Scientists of the Revolution

Question 1

Describe Ptolemy. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Answer 1

100 AD, Greek living in Egypt.
An early astronomer and a rationalist
His observations and theories were important to later works
He created the best maps of his time
He accepted Aristotle’s view of a geocentric universe
Because his geocentric views fit with the Church’s “God made Earth central” dogma, the Church supported him

Question 2

Describe Aristotle. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Answer 2

384 BC, Stagira Greece
He was a philosopher and an early scientist
He laid the foundation for many of today’s scientific fields like astronomy and geography
He was a rationalist
He believed people should observe the world for themselves
He founded a renowned school in Athens called Lyceum
The Church proclaimed and supported his geocentric view
The Church opposed any scientific revision of Aristotle’s words

Question 3

Describe Nicholas Copernicus. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Answer 3

1543, Poland
Wrote the book “The Motion of Celestial Spheres
Wrote a book on the geocentric method as well
He supported the heliocentric solar system view
His books angered the Catholic Church

Question 4

Describe Tycho Brache. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Answer 4

1600's
Developed the astronomical instruments 
He discovered the C/1590 E1
The C/1590 E1 is a comet
Brahe had to wear a fake nose because he got it sliced on when he was in a sword duel with a fellow Danish nobleman.

Question 5

Describe Johannes Kepler. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Answer 5

1609
Made Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
His first law was that planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at one focus.
The second law is that time necessary to traverse any arc of a planetary orbit is to the area the sector between the central body and the arc
The third law is that there is an exact relationship between the squares of the planets’ periodic times and the cubes of the radii of their orbits.
He discovered the Keplerian Telescope

Question 6

Describe Galileo. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 7

Describe Isaac Newton. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 8

Describe Zacharias Janssen. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 9

Describe Van Leeuwenhoek. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 10

Describe Torricelli. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 11

Describe Francis Bacon. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 12

Describe Rene Descartes. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 13

Describe William Harvey. What did he do, what time period was he in, and why was he important to the Scientific Revolution?

Question 14

What is the Scientific Method? Name the steps, and who invented it.

Question 15

What is the Heliocentric Model?

Question 16

What is the Geocentric model?

Question 17

Who are rationalists?

Question 18

Who are alchemists?