# Scientific Revolution
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: ai_assisted


## TL;DR

The Scientific Revolution (1543-1687) transformed understanding of the natural world, replacing Aristotelian/medieval frameworks with empirical observation and mathematical reasoning. Copernicus (heliocentric, 1543) → Kepler (elliptical orbits, 1609) → Galileo (telescope, mechanics, 1610) → Newton (Principia, 1687). Scientific method emerged.

## Core Explanation

Copernicus: earth orbits sun (De Revolutionibus, 1543) — published on his deathbed to avoid controversy. Galileo: observed Jupiter's moons, Venus phases — proved heliocentrism; tried by Inquisition (1633), recanted ('And yet it moves' — probably apocryphal). Bacon: empiricism, inductive reasoning. Descartes: deductive reasoning, 'I think, therefore I am.' Newton: unified terrestrial and celestial physics. Royal Society founded 1660.

## Further Reading

- [The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn)](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo13179781.html)