Scientific Discoveries in European History Essay

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Pages: 3
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Tom Davies
1/8/15
Mrs. Norris th 5 Hour

New World View Essay Leading up to the 1500’s, society was ruled by tradition and superstition.
Monarchs took power with the theory of Divine Right, and scientists claimed ideas such as the geocentric view, in order to conform to the Church’s views. Science became the puppet of the church, and the inaccuracies it spewed were seen as fact. However, th towards the beginning of the 16 century, starting with Copernicus’
On the Revolutions

of Heavenly Spheres
, which challenged the geocentric view, attitudes began to change.
Although Copernicus didn’t intend to go against the church, his findings went on to create a new world view. Copernicus’ new research led to new discoveries like Kepler’s
3 Laws of Planetary Motion, and Galileo’s 3 Laws of Motion, who did intend to contradict the church. His view also led to Francis Bacon’s Induction Method, which went on to create the presently­used scientific method, when mixed with Descartes’ Deductive th Method. In the 17 century, Sir Isaac Newton, using the new scientific method as well

as the works listed above, created an explanation of the natural laws of the universe. He explained that since there are natural laws of motion in heavenly bodies and earthly objects, these natural laws were unchangeable and predictable. Copernicus’

heliocentric view led to Newton’s idea of natural laws, which were then incorporated into different aspects of society during the Enlightenment. In 1687, Newton released his
Principia
, which explained the natural laws of the th universe. The 18 century philosophers and scientists of the Enlightenment accepted

these ideas, and began to integrate these ideas into different aspects of everyday life.
These new “natural orders of the universe”, started to create a shift from religion to science and reason. Many people, who had previously believed in God, converted to
Deism, which said that a “creator” had started the universe, but no longer existed, because the natural laws ruled the universe. Many Enlightened philosophers and scientists, believed that there was a creator, but that the natural laws of the universe explained everything. These natural laws also began to incorporate themselves into other aspects of normal life, like economics. In Adams Smith’s
Wealth of Nations
, Smith discusses the natural laws of the economics, or more commonly referred to as the law of supply and demand. Political thinkers also used the idea of natural laws to influence their work. Beccaria wrote
On Crimes and Punishment
, which examined the natural laws governing justice. His work also helped discover psychology, as this looked at the natural laws of how humans think. In government, political thinkers such as John Locke used this new idea to come up with his
Two Treatises of Government
, which discussed how people had basic natural rights, such as life, liberty, and property, and that these needed to be protected. Likewise, other Enlightened
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