Chapter One: Revolutionizing the Sciences



Revolutionizing the Sciences (2001)

Chapter One: What was Worth Knowing in 1500?

The following questions/outline should guide your reading, note taking, & studying. Students who can answer these questions in their own words without simply copying information from notes will show their understanding of the chapter.

Introduction

III. Renaissance & Revolution [7-9]

What is the distinction the author makes between the Scientific Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution? [IMPORTANT!]

Big Picture Questions [10-18]:

1) What was curriculum in the medieval universities?

( changing role of Aristotelian thought?

( changes between 1200 & 1500?

2) What was meant by "natural philosophy" or "physics" in 1500?

( Aristotelian model of the universe?

( four elements & the aether?

( four "causes" & the forms?

3) What was the relationship between "science" & "religion" in 1500?

( scholasticism? (Thomas Aquinas)

( Averroïsm? (Averroes)

( science as "handmaiden" to theology?

4) What areas besides natural philosophy were studied in 1500?

( medicine & anatomy? (Galen)

( materia medica?

( quadrivium?

( "mixed" mathematics? (astronomy & music)

This study guide will help if you read carefully (you may have to read more than once), take notes, & ask questions. Use it as a model for creating your own study guides for subsequent chapters. Please see me with any questions.

Big Picture Questions [18-29, 18-28 (2nd ed)]:

1) What were astronomy & cosmology like in 1500?

( relationship between astronomy & cosmology?

( available astronomical models? (retrograde, epicycle, deferent)

( Almagest? (Ptolemy)

( Epitome of the Almagest? (Georg Peurbach & Regiomontanus)

( mathematical versus physical models? (description versus explanation)

2) What was studied outside the universities in 1500?

( role of printing press in providing intellectual options? (Gutenberg)

( many alternatives to Aristotelian thought:

neo-Platonism? (Ficino, Hermes Trismegistus)

magic? ("natural" versus "demonic")

alchemy & cabalism?

3) Differences between Aristotelian & operational knowledge?

( "books of secrets" or "technical recipe books"?

( challenging the authorities? (Aristotelianism & Catholicism)

4) Who & what were affected by the "Scientific Revolution"?

( lives or beliefs of ordinary people?

( a simple shift from superstition to rational thought?

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