AP World History: Modern › The Scientific Revolution
The Laws of Motion are found in the writings of __________.
Isaac Newton
Galileo
Francis Bacon
Charles Darwin
Charles Dickens
Isaac Newton is one of the most important figures of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. He discovered gravity and was, with Leibniz, the co-inventor of calculus. He also is credited with discovering the three laws of motion, which remain extremely important to our understanding of physics and the universe.
Which of these men is famous for discovering that the Earth orbits the Sun, not the other way around as was previously thought?
Nicholas Copernicus
Tycho Brahe
Isaac Newton
Charles Dickens
Alexander Pope
Prior to the research done by Copernicus in the "revolutions of the heavenly spheres," the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe. The Sun, the planets, and all of the stars were thought to revolve around the Earth. Copernicus proved this to be untrue; however, his work was deemed heretical by the Catholic church and would take some time to be accepted outside of scientific circles.
Why did Copernicus and Galileo, along with other notable astronomers, often conceal their research from the public during the Scientific Revolution?
They feared retribution from the Catholic church, which was unwilling to accept a different interpretation of the nature of the universe.
They wanted to ensure that no mistakes could be found in their work.
They feared retribution from the secular rulers, who did not want the common people to be educated.
They feared disdain from the scientific community, which was slow to adapt to the progress of the Scientific Revolution.
None of these answers is correct; they were generally very quick to publish their research.
Copernicus hid his findings for most of his life, only publishing them when he was close to death, for fear of retribution from the Catholic Church. Galileo likewise hid his research for some time before finally deciding to publish his work, because not doing so would be to go against his conscience. Both men feared retribution from the Catholic church. During the Scientific Revolution, all scientists who disproved a "fact" about human beings or the universe that could be found in the Bible faced scorn, punishment, and even execution at the hands of the Catholic Church, which was desperate to retain control over the understanding of the place of humans and God in the universe.
The growth of what movement during the Renaissance can be seen as a precursor to the Scientific Revolution?
Humanism
Pointillism
Classicism
Socialism
Transcendentalism
The growth of Humanism, which emphasized the ability of human beings to think rationally and solve problems using the logic, evidence, and critical thought recovered from the ancient world, can be understood as a precursor to the Scientific Revolution.
The heliocentric theory proposed by Copernicus states which of the following?
Earth revolves around the Sun, which is the center of the solar system.
The sun and all the other planets revolve around Earth, which is the center of the universe.
The Earth cannot possibly be flat.
Earth has a molten interior that is hotter than the surface of the sun.
The energy from the sun is necessary for sustaining all life on Earth.
The heliocentric model of the solar system states that, contrary to earlier understanding, the Earth is not the center of the Universe. Rather, the sun is the center of our solar system. Earth and all the other planets revolve around the sun. This model was first proposed by Nicholas Copernicus and expanded upon by Galileo and Johannes Kepler.
Francis Bacon's model of empiricism is concerned with which of the following?
Establishing proper procedure for carrying out scientific experiments
Encouraging the teaching of the Socratic method in schools to engender creativity and unconventional thinking in young people
Rejecting the role of the Catholic Church in secular European government
Understanding the limitations of conventional mathematics and providing the groundwork for Newton's invention of calculus
Remedying the divisive problems of the Protestant Reformation in English society
Francis Bacon was an English thinker during the Scientific Revolution. He might even reasonably be called "The Father of the Scientific Revolution" for his work on the scientific method and empiricism. The scientific method established an inductive method of inquiry that focuses on the procedure of scientific research to ensure it is carried out free from bias and outside influence to produce the most accurate results. Bacon's methods are still relevant and practiced today.
Which of the following best summarizes the tenets of Deism?
God created the world to have certain natural laws, but does not interfere with it.
God does not exist and the world arose merely by chance.
Organized religion is an inherently corrupting influence in the lives of men.
Christianity, and the other Abrahamic religions, are all telling the same story and providing the same moral lessons and ought therefore to have better relations with one another.
God's power on Earth is better represented by kings than by the Papacy or other religious leaders.
Deism emerged for the first time in Europe during the Scientific Revolution. As scientists and thinkers began to understand more about the world, the mysticism of earlier periods began to fade and was replaced with growing comprehension and awareness. Deism is the belief that while God created the world, He did so with certain rules and laws that cannot be broken and now does not interfere in the lives of men or the existence of the world. This is called the belief in the "watchmaker" God.