Modern Age Europe 1348-1789 Phase Definitions 1 Assignment

Modern Age Europe 1348-1789 Phase Definitions 1 - Assignment Example Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a polish priest and an astronomer. He adopted elements of Ptolemaic model and transferred them to a heliocentric (sun-centered) model. The heliocentric model used the assumption that the earth revolved round the sun in a circle (Kagan et al, 422). In relation to Ptolemy’s system, his epicycles were smaller, and the inverted motion of the planets was explained to occur due to an optical illusion that came up because people were observing them from the earth, which was moving. He argued that some planets were far away from the sun; thus, took a long time to revolve around it. Tycho Brahe (1546– 1601), a Danish astronomer, took the next significant step towards improving the idea of the sun-centered system. He suggested that Mercury and Venus revolved around the sun but that the moon, the sun and the other planets orbited round the earth (Kagan et al, 69). Brahe made scientific instruments with which he made more advanced findings of pla nets than anyone else had done. Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), a German astronomer and assistant to Brahe took possession of Brahe’s table upon his demise. He believed in the Copernican heliocentric model and was deeply influenced by Renaissance Neo-Platonism, which holds the sun in peculiar honor. He let go of the circular components of the Copernicus’s model; the epicycles after he eventually realized that the sun had to be at the centre of things. Based on the findings that emerged from his study of Brahe’s work, Keppler produced the first astronomical model that portrayed motion. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovered that the heavens were extremely complex than anyone had ever suspected. He knew that few people possessed the knowledge, so he used his rhetorical skills to show that he was concerned with developing the facts further, and not opposing them. Galileo named the moons of Jupiter after his patron, Medici. In order to win support both for his continue d work and theories, he named the moons of Jupiter after Medici’s. Through his political skills and excellent prose, he transformed himself into a high- profile advocate of Copernicanism (Kagan et al, 428). Isaac Newton (1642-1727) had a view that inertia force applies to bodies both at rest and motion. He found out that the planets, as well as the other objects in the space moved by mutually attracting each other; and that every object affected one another through the force of gravity. This is what caused the planets to move in an organized way. Newton also believed in empiricism, a philosophical teaching that emphasized on observation of phenomena before explaining them. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was considered the founder of experimentation and empiricism in science. He worked to link science and material progress in the public mind. He believed that the world was yet to discern novel things. He also had a strong conviction that scholars paid too much attention to traditio ns and knowledge of ancient findings. Rene Descartes (1596-1650), a talented mathematician who invented the analytic geometry. He concluded that he could not doubt his own act of thinking or his own existence. He then acknowledged the existence of God. He influenced thoughts of philosophers of his time and the present. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) provided a rigorous philosophical justification for a strong central political authority. He advised people not to do unto others what