Johannes Kepler further suggested that the orbits of heavenly bodies were not perfectly circular but they were rather elliptical...
HISTORY MYSTERY
The practice of questioning and reasoning gave birth to the scientific revolution. According to the previously approved and believed model of the universe, earth was the center of a perfectly created universe and all heavenly bodies revolved around it in perfectly circular orbits. Scientists, after the Renaissance and of the Age of Enlightenment, insisted that these laws needed to be reexamined and verified. Nicholas Copernicus in 1543 proposed the heliocentric model of the universe in which the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa.
This model was, of course, not perceived well by the Church but inspired other astronomers, thinkers and scientists. Giordano Bruno, an Italian astronomer was burned at stake in Rome in 1600. His statue stands tall at the same site, where many young thinkers, innovators and rebels foster his legacy day and night. Bruno also proposed the existence of other worlds and planets among the stars outside our own local system. Today, even a child knows that such bodies exist and more are being discovered every few days. “Every few days, Giordano Bruno has his revenge,” in the words of Michio Kaku, a present day leading physicist.
Johannes Kepler further suggested that the orbits of heavenly bodies were not perfectly circular but they were rather elliptical, another major contradiction with the scriptures. Galileo Galilei studied the Copernican model in detail, invented the thermometer and through his self-made telescope increased our understanding of the universe.
He was the first person to observe the moons of Jupiter, cratered surface of the moon and the first person to suggest that the Milky Way was a collection of stars.
In 1616, Galileo was declared heretical by the church. In 1992, after 13 years of investigation the Church publicly acknowledged that Galileo was right.
The scope of observation and reason encompassed all fields of science. William Harvey for the first time explained the human heart as a pump and called it ‘a piece of machinery’. This suggested that even the workings of the living human body can be understood and explained in terms of physical laws that govern the material world. Francis Bacon, an English politician emphasized that one should ask their own questions and do their own experiments rather than blindly believing what has been passed down through countless generations. In words of Francis Bacon, people with such conventional ideas were ‘worthless ancients’.
By this time, many European travelers were voyaging and exploring new stuff around the world. The new materials including new species of plants, textiles and spices as well as the stories and ideas brought from the colonies and foreign lands sparked curiosity and interest in the people. The Portuguese doctor, Garcia de Orta, travelled across India and made a catalogue of different herbs and plants used for medicinal purposes. The compiled catalogue proved to be extremely beneficial back in Europe.
For most part of human history, there was no notion of life ever getting any better than it was. Real enlightenment was the realization that the world didn’t always have to be on the brink of starvation and catastrophe. Life could, in fact, get better; there could be more food on the table every day, people could become richer and that public health could get better. The oppressive monarchs were not absolute and their regimes could be toppled over. The affairs and workings of the country and society should run according to what the people want and not the ruling minority. The Age of Enlightenment sparked the French and the American revolutions and changed almost the entire social orders of Europe and helped shape subsequent orders and systems in other parts of the world.
The scientific revolution is the reason we have high life expectancies, low child and maternal mortality rates and a much better quality of life than our predecessors from just a century ago. We expect the world to progress with each passing day. We hold science close to our hearts, we practice and encourage science.
From burning scientists at the stake to sponsoring billions of dollars for science within a few centuries, European societies have come a long way. The course of history should be studied so that we can learn how to change oppressive and unprogressive norms and customs into progressive and enlightened ones.
