The impact of the scientific revolution: a brief history of the

Lauren Ames, Jo Kent, Amneet Gulati, Adam Purtee

Faculty Sponsor: Christopher Kelty, Rice University Department of Anthropology

The Impact of the Scientific Revolution: A Brief History of the Experimental Method in the 17th Century

The American statesman Adlai Stevenson once said, America “can chart our future clearly and wisely only when weknow the path which has led to the present.”

Introduction

The beginning of the seventeenth century is known as the “scientific revolution” for the drastic changesevidenced in the European approach to science during that period. The word “revolution” connotes a period of turmoil and socialupheaval where ideas about the world change severely and a completely new era of academic thought is ushered in. This term,therefore, describes quite accurately what took place in the scientific community following the sixteenth century. During thescientific revolution, medieval scientific philosophy was abandoned in favor of the new methods proposed by Bacon, Galileo, Descartes,and Newton; the importance of experimentation to the scientific method was reaffirmed; the importance of God to science was for themost part invalidated, and the pursuit of science itself (rather than philosophy) gained validity on its own terms. The change tothe medieval idea of science occurred for four reasons: (1) seventeenth century scientists and philosophers were able tocollaborate with members of the mathematical and astronomical communities to effect advances in all fields; (2) scientistsrealized the inadequacy of medieval experimental methods for their work and so felt the need to devise new methods (some of which weuse today); (3) academics had access to a legacy of European, Greek, and Middle Eastern scientific philosophy they could use as astarting point (either by disproving or building on the theorems); and (4) groups like the British Royal Society helped validatescience as a field by providing an outlet for the publication of scientists’ work. These changes were not immediate, nor did theydirectly create the experimental method used today, but they did represent a step toward Enlightenment thinking (with an emphasis onreason) that was revolutionary for the time. Assessment of the state of science before the scientific revolution, examination ofthe differences in the experimental methods utilized by different “scientists” during the seventeenth century, and exploration intohow advances made during the scientific revolution affected the scientific method used in science today will provide an idea of howrevolutionary the breakthroughs of the seventeenth century really were and what impact they’ve had.