Power Point
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People
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Vesalius (1514-1564)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Nicolai Copernicus (1473-1543)
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
René Descartes (1596-1650)

Future Reading

Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)

Related Documents
(Brophy reader)

Copernicus, from Six Books Concerning the Revolusions of the Heavenly Orbs

Galileo, from The Starry Messenger

Francis Bacon, from The Great Instauration

Descartes, from Discourse on Method

Toward a Scientific World View
History 104 / February 1, 2013

I. The importance of empirical observation
          A. Reminder: the limits of Greek, Roman, and Arab science
          B. Some great observers
                   1. Tycho Brahe, astronomer
                   2. Vesalius, human anatomy
          C. The “scientific method” of Francis Bacon
II. Applying knowledge
          A. Masters of medicine
                   1. Paracelsus and the treatment of disease
                   2. William Harvey & circulation of the blood
          B. Giants of astronomy
                   1. The “paradigm shift” of Nicolai Copernicus
                   2. Kepler does the math
                   3. The troubled career of Galileo
          C. The mechanical world-picture
                   1. Isaac Newton
                   2. René Descartes
III. Models of research support
          A. Ca. 1500-1650:
                   1. Latin as language of publication
                   2. Science as a strongly international endeavor
                   3. Support by courts & estates of varying sizes
          B. Ca. 1650 onward:
                   1. Publication in local languages
                   2. Support by governments of nation-states
                             > The Royal Society of London (1660)
                             > The Royal Academy in France (1666)
                   3. Scientific presentations & journals