The Coming of the Age of Science and Reason Flashcards
(56 cards)
1
Q
Like many astronomers in the 16-17th
centuries, Kepler was deeply
religious. Why did he see astronomy
as a religious duty?
A
centuries, Kepler was deeply religious. Why did he see astronomy as a religious duty? Because it would help him understand the world that God created; he believed that God had created the universe to a specific mathematical model.
2
Q
Despite the fact that Kepler was a
great scientist, why was he unaware
of the impact that the Third Law
would have?
A
He was more preoccupied with his
delight at discovering God
s plan.
3
Q
Until Isaac Newton refined Kepler
s
third law of planetary motion, what
did scholars see it as?
A
Little more than an interesting
sideshow.
4
Q
What was the most important impact
of Kepler
s findings?
A
The shift from a belief in contact
circular and linear motions always
taking place in the universe, to a
realisation that this was not the case.
5
Q
How did Kepler s use of mathematics to solve problems and explain how the physical world worked, rather than to simply describe theories, impact of everyday life?
A
Mathematics went through a revolution of its own, as civil engineering canal building, warfare and navigation were improved as a result of applied mathematics.
6
Q
What was the time period for Galileo?
A
1564-1642
1
7
Q
What is Kepler
s second law of
planetary motion?
A
That planets don't travel at a consistent speed as had been assumed since ancient times. The speed of planets varies as they circle the sun; when an individual planet is closer to the sun, it will move faster and when it is further away, it will move more slowly.
8
Q
What did Kepler do instead of
providing mathematical theories to
make his conclusions?
A
He provided a physical explanation
based on his own observation and
those of Tyco Brahe.
9
Q
How was Kepler affected by the
witch craze?
A
His mother was accused of witchcraft in 1617 and she was imprisoned in 1620. He managed to secure her release in 1621 after dedicating extensive time and energy into defending her.
10
Q
What is Kepler’s third law of
planetary motion?
A
The distance from a planet to the
Sun, cubed, is proportional to the
time it takes for a planet to complete
its orbit, squared.
11
Q
Through his third law of planetary motion, Kepler concluded that the further a planet is from the Sun, the longer it takes to complete its orbit. How did Kepler s inability to properly understand gravity affect this theory?
A
He was unable to comprehend the gravitational pull of the Sun and his theory was not taken any further until Isaac Newton's theory of Gravity was developed.
12
Q
Two dominant ideas shaped natural philosophy during the Scientific Revolution: Aristotelian beliefs and Platonic beliefs. What were Platonic beliefs?
A
They were based on the work of Plato (427-347 BC) whose approach was more theoretical as he attempted to move away from observed knowledge based on thought alone.
13
Q
The methodology underlying the
Scientific Revolution comprised of
two elements. What were they?
A
Firstly, mathematics featured heavily in order to make precise calculations about how the world works. Secondly, experiment and observation were used to gain a better understanding of nature.
14
Q
Natural philosophy was the study of
the natural world. With the Scientific
Revolution, how did it change?
A
Natural philosophers adopted the scientific method and their study changed from being strictly theoretical to one that adopted practical elements.
15
Q
What is the
‘homocentric’
belief?
A
The belief that all rotations in the
universe are centred on the earth.
16
Q
What do Empiricists believe?
A
1609
17
Q
What was the Scientific Revolution?
A
The emergence of modern scientific
beliefs and methods that took place
approximately 1550-1800.
18
Q
What did new developments in
biology, physics, chemistry,
astronomy and mathematics help to
fundamentally alter?
A
The established views of the natural
world and the role of God in
commanding nature.
19
Q
When did the Scientific Revolution
begin?
A
When Nicolaus Copernicus (1473- 1543) questioned the ancient astronomical belief that Earth was at the centre of the universe.
20
Q
Two dominant ideas shaped natural philosophy during the Scientific Revolution: Aristotelian beliefs and Platonic beliefs. What were Aristotelian beliefs?
A
They were based on the work of Aristotle (384-322 BC) who was perhaps the most influential figure in Ancient Greek natural philosophy. Aristotle s view of the universe was homocentric, and he believed that only simple circular motions could take place in space. Aristotle s wider approach was one of empiricism.
21
Q
When was Gresham College
founded?
A
1597
22
Q
When was Francis Bacon,s 'of the Proficience and Advancement of Learning, Divine and Human' published?
A
1605
23
Q
Towards the end of the Middle Ages,
why was the Ptolemaic system
beginning to be interpreted as
hypothetical?
A
Because it provided mathematical
models without observed evidence.
24
Q
Based on his models, Ptolemy had suggested that there may be hypothetical bodies such as extra planets and stars in the solar system. Was this idea used?
A
Because his system was the only one
that seemed to work, despite it
having no evidence it was used well
into the 16th century.
25
While Aristotle's view was that the
Earth was at the centre of all things,
what did Ptolemy's mathematical
approach suggest?
```
That planets move on an epicycle,
although to make his calculations
work he had to assume that the
epicycles did not move around the
Earth but around another point not
far from Earth.
```
26
With planets supposedly moving on
an epicycle around the
'centre of deferent' what could Ptolemy do?
He could account for the apparent
changes in speed as the planets were
in orbit but also maintain a system of
perfect circles.
27
As the Ptolemaic system was refined
and the number of circles used by
astronomers increased, what
happened?
The system became so complex that
| it was almost unworkable.
28
Before Copernicus, what was the
| state of ideas about planetary orbit?
The Ancient Greek idea that the
motion of all heavenly bodies must
be perfectly uniform and circular was
restricting progress.
29
When did Galileo Galilei publish
Dialogue Concerning Two Chief
World Systems
?
1632
30
When did Thomas Hobbes publish
| 'De Corpore'?
1655
31
When did Thomas Hobbes publish
| 'De Homine'?
1638
32
When was the Royal Society
| founded?
1660
33
When did Isaac Newton publish
| Principia Mathematica?
1687
34
When did John Locke publish
'Essay Concerning Human Understanding'
?
1690
35
What is an Epicycle?
```
A small circle on which a planet
moves. This circle moves along a
larger circle (called a deferent)
around a fixed point.
```
36
What did Ptolemy, like Aristotle,
| believe about the universe?
That the Earth was at the centre of
| the universe.
37
What is a Polymath?
A person of wide knowledge and
learning who specialises in a number
of different subjects.
38
Why has there been a tendency to
view Copernicus as a conservative
rather than a revolutionary thinker?
```
He made theoretical conclusions like
Ptolemy rather than empirical
observations. He continued to
believe that the planets and stars
moved on spheres (on a round
trajectory) and he refused to change
Ptolemy
s underlying approach and
believed that all planetary motions
were perfectly circular.
```
39
What did most people who were
aware of the work of Copernicus at
the time believe?
That he was simply presenting theory
and that his thoughts about the
motion of the Earth were not to be
taken seriously.
40
How was the view that Copernicus'
| ideas were just theory enforced?
```
By Andreas Osiander a protestant
minister, who wrote the preface to
his work and stated that it served to
simply provide a model in order to
aid astronomical calculations and
that they were unlikely to be
accurate.
```
41
What has a recent study shown
| about public opinion of Copernicus?
It shows that only ten thinkers
accepted Copernicus'
theory as physical truth before 1600.
42
What is a Supernova?
A star that increases in brightness as
| it explodes.
43
```
The inadequacy of the long standing
Ptolemaic system was evident in its
inability to explain all astronomical
movements but which other practical
problems did it pose?
```
```
It was unable to accurately set a date
for Easter each year
–
it was decided
in 325 AD that Easter should fall on
the Sunday after the first full moon
following the spring equinox.
```
44
Though believing, like Aristotle and
Ptolemy, that heavenly bodies
moved in perfect circles, what did
Copernicus also propose?
```
That the universe is made up of eight
spheres, with the sun stationary in
the centre. The planets known to
Copernicus revolved around the Sun
and the Earth revolving on its own
axis with the Moon revolving around
it.
```
45
Though Copernicus presented his
work as Platonic theory rather than
Aristotelian fact to avoid accusations
of blasphemy, what happened?
```
In 1616 his book was banned by the
Catholic Church when it was added
to their 'Index Librorum
Prohibitorum' (List of Prohibited
Books) and although scholars could
access an edited version of the book,
it wasn't removed from the
'Index' until 1758.
```
46
Despite the church's attempts to
censor the work of Copernicus, what
was its impact?
```
The book' De revolutionibus orbium
coelestium'
(On the Revolutions of
the Heavenly Spheres) became
hugely influential later and his
findings were seen as accepted fact
by many in intellectual circles,
though not necessarily in his lifetime.
```
47
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) found a
compromise position between those
of Copernicus and Ptolemy. What
did he believe?
```
That all planets circled the sun, but
that the sun in turn circles the Earth,
which was always stationary. This
was clearly inaccurate but was an
important step in advancing the
understanding of orbits.
```
48
```
In 1572, Brahe observed a new
supernova and published his findings.
Why did his findings pose a problem
for astronomers who followed the
Aristotelian and Ptolemaic view of
the Universe?
```
Because it went against the
established opinion that the universe
was uniform and could not change.
49
Brahe observed a number of comets
and published his findings in 1588.
What did he observe?
```
That they existed outside the
atmosphere of Earth rather than
inside it, as had been the established
view. The path that was taken by
these comets according to Brahe,
must mean that the idea that all
heavenly bodies were controlled by
perfect sphere was redundant.
```
50
```
Brahe believed that when medieval
astronomers referred to spheres on
which the planet travelled, they were
referring to solid entities. How was
he able to refute this?
```
```
By stating that the planets moved
independently through space and did
not always follow exactly the same
paths, thus removing the need for
spheres.
```
51
When Kepler went to university to
study philosophy, what did he
become familiar with?
The work of Copernicus; he agreed
with his heliocentric view of the
world.
52
In his 'Mysterium Cosmographicum'
(Cosmic Mystery) published in 1596,
what did Kepler assert?
His strong religious faith, insisting
that the universe was perfectly
designed by God.
53
Although the model that Kepler was
not without fault, what was he able
to do?
```
He was able to adopt the heliocentric
view of Copernicus but avoid his
reliance on Ptolemaic spheres and
epicycles. He proposed a
complicated system whereby six
layers of three-dimensional shapes
nestled together would correspond
to the path of the six planets.
```
54
Why did Kepler's first planetary
model still hold significance despite
him later rejecting it?
It provoked discussion and potential
| patrons began to take an interest.
55
```
In 1609 Kepler published
'Astronomia Nova'
(New Astronomy) which is
notable for its inclusion of what
became known as Kepler's first two
laws of planetary motion. What is
the first law?
```
That planets travel in elliptical orbits
| around the sun.
56
What does it mean for an orbit to be
| elliptical?
Moving in the shape of an ellipse (an
| elongated or flattened circle).
