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7. Cultural Transformations

The Scientific Revolution

nurturing an understanding of the cosmos at least partially at odds with traditional Christian thinking

while some Europeans were actively attempting to spread the Christian faith to distant corners of the world

makers of Europe’s Scientific Revolution

vast intellectual and cultural transformation

took place between mid-16th and early 18th

no longer relied on external authority

Bible

Church

speculations of ancient philosophers

received wisdom of cultural tradition

knowledge acquired through rational inquiry based on evidence

those who created this revolution saw themselves as departing radically from older ways of thinking

Copernicus from Poland

Galileo from Italy

Descartes from France

Newton from England

Impact

early modern Europe

fundamentally altered ideas about place of humankind within cosmos

sharply challenged teachings and authority of Church

subsequently eroded religious belief and practice in West (particularly among well-educated)

science also used to legitimize gender and racial inequalities

gave new support to old ideas about natural inferiority of women and enslaved people

science fostered marvels of modern production and horrors of modern means of destruction

when married to technological innovation of Industrial Revolution

by 20th: so widespread that it lost its association with European culture

became chief marker of global modernity

became universal worldview

open to all who could accept its premises and techniques

like Buddhism, Christianity, Islam

Why Europe?

Favorable conditions

historical development as reinvigorated, fragmented civilization

by 12th/13th: legal system guaranteeing measure of independence

for a variety of institutions

Church

towns and cities

guilds

professional associations

universities

based on the idea of a “corporation”

collective group of people

treated as unit (single person) with certain rights to regulate and control its own members

Autonomy of emerging universities

1215: University of Paris recognized as “corporation of masters and scholars”

could admit and expel students

could establish courses of instruction

could grant a “license to teach” to its faculty

universities became “neutral zones of intellectual autonomy”

scholars could pursue studies

relative freedom from dictates of church or state authorities

study of natural order began to slowly separate from philosophy and theology, gain distinct identity

“core of readings and lectures that were basically scientific”

drew heavily on Aristotle’s writings

only recently available to Western Europeans

major figures often trained in and affiliated with these universities

Contrast to other areas

madrassas (Islamic colleges): Quranic studies and religious law held central place

philosophy, natural science viewed with considerable suspicion

Quran held all wisdom; scientific thinking challenged it

earlier openness increasingly replaced by disdain for scientific, philosophical inquiry

seemed to only lead to uncertainty and confusion

“May God protect us from useless knowledge”

China: did not permit independent institutions of higher learning where scholars could have relative freedom

emphasized humanistic, moral texts of classical Confucianism

Could draw on other cultures

especially Islamic world (major role in birth of European “natural philosophy” between 1000 and 1500)

medical texts

astronomical research

translations of Greek classics

16th-18th: center of massive new exchange of information

became aware of lands, peoples, plants, animals, societies, religions from around the world

shook older ways of thinking, opened way to new conceptions

uncertainties (skepticism about established views) provided fertile cultural ground for emergence of modern science

Reformation also contributed

challenge to authority

encouragement of mass literacy

affirmation of secular professions

Science as cultural revolution

before Scientific Revolutions: educated Europeans had ancient view of the world

earth was stationary and at center of universe

around earth revolved sun, moon, stars in ten spheres of transparent crystal

coincided with religious outlook of Catholic Church

attention of entire universe centered on earth and human inhabitants

God’s plan for salvation on earth

universe of divine purpose

angels guided hierarchically arranged heavenly bodies along way

God watched over whole from realm beyond spheres

Scientific Revolution fundamentally challenged this understanding

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish mathematician and astronomer

1543: published book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres

first to argue for sun-centered universe

“at the middle of all things lies the sun”, earth and other planets revolved around it

earth no longer unique or at obvious center of God’s attention

Expansion of ideas

early 17th: Johannas Kepler (German mathematician): planets followed elliptical orbits, not perfect circles

1609: Galileo (Italian): developed improved telescope, undermined established understandings of cosmos

some began to discuss idea of unlimited universe

humankind just mere speck of dust in unimaginable vastness

Sir Isaac Newton

English; 1642-1727

culmination of Scientific Revolution: modern laws of motion and mechanics

remained unchallenged until 20th

concept of universal gravitation

“all bodies whatsoever are endowed with a principle of mutual gravitation”

heavens and earth not so different (not separate and distinct)

motion of cannonball/falling of apple same natural laws as orbiting planets

Physical universe understanding

universe no longer propelled by supernatural forces

functioned on its own according to scientific principles that could be described mathematically

machine that regulated itself (did not need God nor angels to operate)

knowledge of universe could be achieved through human reason

observation, deduction, experimentation

did not need ancient authorities or divine revelation

Human body understanding

dissections of cadavers and animals

doctors and scientists could describe human body with much greater accuracy

understood circulation of blood throughout body

heart no longer mysterious center of heat, passions

just another machine

Gender

almost entirely male

women largely excluded from universities

a few aristocratic women could participate informally in scientific networks

Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673): married to Duke of Newcastle

wrote six scientific texts

only 17th-century Englishwoman to attend session of Royal Society of London (created to foster scientific learning)

Germany: number of women took part in astronomical work as assistants to husband/brothers

Maria Winkelman: discovered previously unknown comet (husband took credit)

after husband’s death: sought to continue work in Berlin Academy of Sciences but was refused

Christianity

Opposition from Catholic Church

teachings and authority under attack

Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno

proclaimed infinite universe, many worlds

burned at the stake in 1600

Galileo compelled by Church to renounce belief that earth moved in orbit, rotated on axis

Compatibility

none of the early scientists rejected Christianity

Copernicus

published his famous book with the support of several leading Catholic churchmen

dedicated book to pope

Galileo

proclaimed compatibility of science and faith

lack of diplomacy in dealing with church leaders in part responsible for his quarrel with the church

Newton

serious biblical scholar

saw no inherent contradiction between his ideas and belief in God

scientists sought to accommodate religion

scientists and Church leaders learned to coexist through a kind of compartmentalization

science prevailed in its limited sphere of describing the physical universe

religion was arbiter of truth about ultimate questions

human salvation

righteous behavior

larger purposes of life

Galileo and telescope

Background

Scientific Revolution: idea that knowledge of how the universe worked was acquired through a combination of careful observations, controlled experiments, formulation of general laws in mathematical terms

new scientific instruments capable of making precise observations underpinned important breakthrough

telescope: first produced in early 17th by Dutch eyeglass makers

Galileo

telescope: used by Italian mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

used it to observe the night sky

created own telescope (improved on previous designs)

months later, made a series of discoveries that called into question well-established understandings of the cosmos

notion that no imperfection or change marred the heavenly bodies

craters on the moon

sunspots moving across the face of the sun

finite universe of traditional astronomy

moons of Jupiter

many new stars

irrefutable evidence of a cosmos unlike that described by traditional authorities

Transformation of debate

discoveries were readily grasped

anyone could confirm their veracity with their own telescope

heralded by many in scientific community

Christoph Clavius (Church’s leading astronomer in Rome)

he was correct when he theorized that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system

could not be definitely proven

Galileo began to study other phenomena (e.g. tides) to prove that the earth is in motion

Church

initially silent on Galileo’s astronomical observations

warned him to refrain from teaching or promoting Copernicus’s ideas (condemned)

Galileo published (with what he thought was the consent of the Church) a book sympathetic to Copernicus’s sun-centric system

1632: tried by Roman Inquisition

court charged with maintaining orthodoxy

convicted of teaching doctrines against the Church

recanted beliefs

69 years old: sentenced to house arrest

Question of knowledge

“What does it mean, ‘to know something’?”

fundamentally at stake in the trial

relationship between scientific knowledge and other forms of knowledge (divine revelation, mythical experience)

1992: Pope John Paull II called it a “sad misunderstanding” but has ongoing resonance because “the underlying problems of this case concern both the nature of science and the message of faith”

declared scientific and religious knowledge to be compatible

Galileo expressed similar notions earlier

Science and enlightenment

Scientific Revolution spread to wider European public during 18th

aided by:

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