HY 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Greek Mathematics, Analytic Geometry, Inductive Reasoning
1. Newton’s Synthesis
1. In his famous book, Principia (1687), Newton integrated the astronomy of
Copernicus and Kepler with the physics of Galileo
1. Found a single explanatory system that comprehended motion both on
earth and in the skies
2. United the experimental and theoretical-mathematical sides of modern
science
3. The key feature in his synthesis was the law of universal gravitation:
every body in the universe attracts every other body in the universe in a
precise mathematical relationship, whereby the force of attraction is
proportional to the quantity of matter of the objects and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between them
2. Causes of the Scientific Revolution
1. Medieval intellectual life and universities provided the framework for the new
science
1. In 1300, philosophy took its place alongside law, medicine, and theology
in universities --> medieval philosophers developed a limited but real
independence from theologians and a sense of free inquiry
2. Science was able to emerge as a minor but distinct branch of
philosophy: leading universities established new professorships of
mathematics, astronomy, and physics
2. The Renaissance stimulated scientific progress
1. Greek mathematics was recovered
1. Greatly improved European mathematics
2. Showed that classical mathematicians had their differences -->
Europeans were forced to resolve these controversies
2. Various rulers and wealthy business people supported scientific
investigations
3. The navigational problems of long sea voyages in the age of overseas
expansion generated scientific research and new instruments
1. Science and scientific education was turned to in an attempt to solve the
problem of fixing longitude (scientists had an honored role in society for
the first time)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
