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335 BCE
Aristotle
He was one of the earliest scientists. He did extenssive work in the fields of geology and biology as well as philosophy. His work in geology and biology is not studied, as it was proven wrong. But his early ideas still changed the way people think. Without him to establish a baseline for many different subjects, no work could be built off his discoveries -
100
Claudius Ptolemy
he came up with the geocentric theory, the theory that the earth is the center of the universe. Even though this theory was proven wrong 2,500 years later, it was him that put down a foundation for discoveries in the world of math and science. Without people who are willing to share their theories, even if they might be wrong, no right theories would be discovered. -
Period: 100 to
Timespan
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1572
Tycho Brahe
His work on astronomy helped to overturn the old geocentric theory in favor of the new heliocentric theory. Without him, we still might believe that everything orbits the earth. His work challenged the old theory and he put fourth his work even though it was not the popular opinion of the time. -
Zacharias Janssen
He invented the first optical telescope and microscope. This impacted the scientific revolution because without the first microscope Leeuwenhoek wouldn't have observed the first bacteria through the microscope. The telescope, became an important tool in astronomy for astronomers to observe the planets as stars more clearly. This changed the way people think because instead of just guessing at how things operated in the solar system and with the stars, now they could prove it with observations -
Johannes Kepler
he discovered 3 major laws of planetary motion. He also properly explained how vision occurs, as well as a book about how light acts in telescopes. He proved that planets orbit in a circle. The significance of this event is that he proved the old theory wrong, therefore advancing the knowledge of our world for future scientists to expand on. -
Francis Bacon
He published his book Novum Organum (new method) which introduced the new idea that scientific theories can only be developed through multiple observations. This was a new idea, that contradicted Aristotles book on logic. This impacted the scientific revolution majorly because no one was expecting a scientist to challenge such an old theory, which was in use since about 335. It was an entirely different way of thinking in the world of science -
Anthony Descartes
The most important discoveries he made are cartesian geometry, algebra, physical science, and astronomey. This challenges the old way of thinking, since he was laying down completely new ground in the field of science. He was completely overthrowing a old system of natural philsophy. At first, he didn't even want people to see his theories, for fear they would be rejected. He changed the way we think about science and taught us new principles in math. He was a major impact to society. -
Evangelista Torricelli
He invented the barometer, an important tool used to measure atmospheric pressure. He also discovered a sustained vacum while working on the barometer -
Robert Boyle
He invented modernized chemistry. He hinted at basic theories such as atoms, molecules, and chemical reaction. This changed the old way of thinking because he showed that alchemy, which was magic, was not the same as science. This caused a stir, because it proved for the first time that science and magic were very different -
Giovanni Alfonso Borelli
He was the first person to explain muscular movement and other body functions. Without his discoveries, our understanding of the human body wouldn't be as complete as it is today. And if we didn't understand as much about it as we do today, many surgeries wouldn't be possible.This changed the way people thought because for the first time they had a good understanding of how their bodies functioned. He expanded on Aristotle's little research on anatomy. -
Isaac Newton
He discovered the laws of motion. His ideas about modern physics changed the previous theories, which had been proposed by descartes. He also put fourth many theories regarding color refraction and math. His theories challenged the old theories that had been in place for 200 years. He discovered many different things in different fields. -
Antony Leeuwenhoek
He used a mircoscope to observe different liquids and see what was in them. He discovered parasites in fleas. Aulthough he is most famous for discovering bacteria, he discovered many other smaller things. For example, the infusoria - (protist class in modern zoology), the spermatozoa, and the banded pattern of muscular fibers. This was an important event in the scientific revolution because everyone had assumed that if you couldn't see something, it probably didn't exist. and he challenged that -
Joseph Priestley
He discovered oxygen. He dethroned the idea that had been in place for 2,500 years, that there was 4 elements of creation, air, fire, water, and earth. This was a big deal because he completely changed an idea that had been in place for 23 centuries. He proved that even the most believed theories can be wrong -
Antoine Laurent Lavoisier
He discovered the role oxygen plays in combustion. He also helped construct the metric system, as well as helping reform chemical nomenculture. Plus modernized chemistry. His decisions about science eventually got him killed. He supported new scientific principles brought fourth by foreign scientists, and the french revolutionaries didn't like that. So that is how his ideas affected him -
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
He discovered calculus, even though newton discovered it too, they didn't work together in their discoveries. Before calculus was discovered, people believed in a theory called kinematics, which was observing motions and trying to describe them. People didn't try to understand why things are moving. But with calculus, there was now a formula to predict the motions and why they are going where they went
