Advocates of the scientific revolution regard it as a "watershed" in humanity which divides human history before and after it. Based on the progress in science, humanity experienced notable changes over the past centuries owing to trends in the scientific revolution. The scientific revolution is, in its entirety, known to be nothing less than developments and change in the manner in which people perceive the world. As such, the revolution was majorly an epistemological revolution, given that it facilitated the changes in thought processes of human generation. The assertion that scientific revolution is a separates human history before and post its inception is justified based in a succinct evaluation from its beginnings through to Newton in comparison with the earlier views of both Aristotle and Ptolemy.
Onyekachi Nnaji (2017) describes the scientific revolution as the period between the late 16 th Century and early 18 th Century in Europe. It is the period during which new ideas in biology, astronomy, physics, chemistry, human anatomy, and other varied sciences resulted to the indictment of principles which had succeeded through the middle ages from ancient Greece. During the middle ages, science was designed to assist people attain a deep understanding of God as opposed to the knowledge of the world. From the 1300s through to the 1500s, during the Renaissance, science was still believed to be a branch of religion while, at the same time, scientific thought viewed the earth as an immobile object that occupied the center of the universe.
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The genesis of the scientific revolution was sparked by studies conducted by various researchers, scholars, and scientists such as Sir Isaac Newton who established a new perception of the universe by natural laws as opposed to the mysterious God. Notably, Newton is believed to be the most significant figure behind the Scientific Revolution as captured in his book titled Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, where he combined the ideas of Galileo, Copernicus, and Kepler within a single system of mathematical laws (Onyekachi Nnaji, 2017). Newton applied the mathematical rules to explain the logical method in which planets rotate around the sun. The universal gravitation law is the backbone of Newton’s contribution to the Scientific Revolution. Through this law, Newton posited that every body or object within the universe attracts every other single body in a relationship that is precisely mathematical (Onyekachi Nnaji, 2017). The law developed by Newton provided a mathematical proof that gravitational force influenced the movements of the moon, earth, sun, planets and other bodies in the universe. The new approach to science, as developed by Newton, promoted critical thinking and, therefore, nothing could be accepted based on faith (Onyekachi Nnaji, 2017). The ancient beliefs in superstitions and miracles were substituted by the dependence on the idea that rational thinking is the ideal approach to uncover a plan that could be used to govern the universe.
Both Aristotle and Ptolemy had different views arguments about science as compared to those of Newton. Aristotle is sometimes considered to be the grandfather of science, having studied science under Plato, the great philosopher. Aristotle believed in the concept of a geocentric universe that stars and planets are perfect spheres as opposed to the earth (Franklin, 2016). He also thought that the movement of both the stars and the planets must be circular given that they were all perfect. If the motions of the stars and the planets were circular, then they could continue moving forever. As a mathematician and an astronomer, Ptolemy held the belief that the earth in itself was the center of the universe, which is an incorrect theory. Ptolemy was able to combine mathematics, especially geometry, with what he saw regarding the movement of the stars to help him predict the planets' movement. Ptolemy established that the motions of the planets must be in epicycles while the movement of the earth was along an equant. Notably, none of the predictions and beliefs of both Aristotle and Ptolemy are true while on the other hand, the arguments and establishments made by Newton about science are valid and therefore, they have been used to facilitate the scientific revolution.
As advocates of scientific revolution would note, Sir Isaac Newton has significantly contributed to contemporary development in science due to his substantial scientific findings in the field of science. Scientific Revolution has also facilitated the modern development in diverse fields through the use of Newton’s mathematical proof of the gravitational force.
References
Franklin, J. (2016). Elliptical Orbits and the Aristotelian Scientific Revolution Comment on Groarke. Studia Neoaristotelica, 13 (2), 169-179.
Onyekachi Nnaji, J. (2017). Concepts of the'Scientific Revolution': An analysis of the historiographical appraisal of the traditional claims of the science . Retrieved from http://dspace.uib.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11201/2625/Onyekachi_Nnaji_John.pdf?sequence=1
