The Scientific Revolution and Paradigm Shift of the 1600's was the beginning of the ever-growing importance of science and logic, and eventually led to science being the ultimate source of truth in the Western World.
Paradigm Shift (1600's)
Paradigm Shift (1600's)
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The Paradigm Shift of the 1600's was the change from the theory of Geocentrism (Earth centered) to the theory of Heliocentrism (Sun centered). This change in view was extremely significant because it challenged the importance of Earth and the idea of humankind being the center of the universe. Once the idea arose that the universe didn't revolve around Earth, people began to accept the fact that they were actually a part of a much larger picture opposed to being the main focus in the universe. From this, some individuals were inspired to pursue more theories to figure out the picture that they were now a part of. For example, the concept of Deism became known shortly after this paradigm shift and it highlighted how the universe is one big machine that we as humans have to figure out through science (Haberman 73). Francis Bacon also created the method of induction which was a scientific method, that is still used today, that could be used to come to conclusions through scientific experimentation (Haberman 73). The paradigm shift inspired many people during this time period to be curious and to pursue a new way of thinking. |
Theory of Evolution (1800's)
Also, the paradigm shift of the 1600's changed the way people viewed the earth and themselves; however, when Darwin developed his theory of evolution he challenged something bigger - religion. Darwin's theory infuriated majority of society due to the fact the everyone was so faithful to Christianity and creationism. When Darwin published his book, the population went into an uproar (Haberman 250). However, after the dust had settled, people began to stand behind Darwin's theory due to the fact that he had scientific evidence to back it up and, logically, it made sense. More and more people began move away from Christianity and closer to Darwin because, following the paradigm shift, instead of faith and religion, science was the new ultimate source of truth. This was mainly due to the fact that religion had no scientific evidence to reinforce it where as Darwin's theory had an overwhelming amount of scientific proof. The fact that a religion dominated society chose to believe evolution rather than creationism reinforces that science was the new ultimate source of truth in the western world.Theory of Relativity (Late 1800's)
Works Cited
Haberman, Arthur. The West and the World. Toronto: Gage Learning, 2002. Print.
Jha, Alok. "E=mc2: Einstein's Equation That Gave Birth to the Atom Bomb." The Guardian. N.p., 5 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 June 2015. <http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/05/einstein-equation-emc2-special-relativity-alok-jha>.
I agree that the “change from the theory of Geocentrism (Earth centered) to the theory of Heliocentrism (Sun centered)” drastically changed the way that people viewed religion and science. I think this because the change to heliocentrism in a way distanced people from God. Initially people believed that they were placed in the centre of the universe by God. Now that this had changed, some decided to find new ways to explain the universe. Some went with science, others tried to find new ways to explain their placement through God. This is when the idea of Deism came into play. Deism was the belief that the universe was a mechanism put into place by God. I also agree with the idea that Darwin's theory of Evolution was very important in the history of mankind. I think this because it challenged the church's ideas about evolution. Although the ideas were not heavily believed initially, throughout time more people began to believe in Darwin because of the vast amount of evidence that he has as well as the small amount of proof that the church had for their ideas about evolution. Additionally, the discovery of the double helix, in 1953, and the human genome project also helped lead towards the ultimate truth in the western world.The discovery of the double helix was just the beginning of human DNA functions and replicates inside the body. This not only gave us a better understanding of how the human body works, but lead to the Human Genome Project which was first completed in 2003. The project not only gave us a better understanding of how DNA is sequenced, but also enabled us to both locate and predict most genetic disorders such as Down Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis, and even things as simple as colour blindness. For these reasons, I agree that science was the source of ultimate truth.
ReplyDeleteI think your post captures a lot of what was happening during the Scientific Revolution, however I feel like most of your paper seems to reflect “Warfare Thesis”-which is the discussion of the battle between theology and science. I have to honestly disagree with you and say that the scientific revolution actually inspired people of many beliefs to work together, and advance. Specifically what did this was actually Social Darwinism! Scholars now listened to one another, as well as argued as these new ideas were strewn about. Of course this led to problem solving, trial and error, but ultimately advancement. People no longer were shut off to the idea of science against religion, but rather thought of the possibility of pairing them together, "people found that evolution could possibly be apart of God's plan, and they found beauty in the idea of all things living interrelated" (The West and The World 252). This is what looks like more harmonious thinking. This I really believe was a turning point for science and theology to gain respect for one another, and even cross paths of thought. In fact most scientific leaders had some sort of faith belief! I think of people like Galileo, who regarded his science as illuminating the work of the Creator. For all his quarrelling with the church he remained a devout Christian until he died. Or Newton, a member of the Anglican Church he was involved in distribution of Bibles to the poor and the construction of new churches. He actually wrote more than a million words on the Bible and theological topics, more than he wrote on science. Even Einstein whom you mentioned, acknowledged the fact that he believed in some sort of idea of a higher power. Science is not the absence of religion, in the same way that religion is not the absence of science. If this rang true we wouldn't have Christian Science teachers, as the two ideas can’t even co align. The scientific revolution brought up science, and introduced it, but this didn't just wipe out religious ideas.
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