Understanding Science and
the Scientific Revolution
Science
1. It is an idea.
- It comprises ideas, beliefs, theories, and all systematic
reasons and observations on the natural and physical
world.
2. It is a personal and social activity.
- It includes activities of human beings to acquire better
understanding of the world
3. It is a body of knowledge.
- It is a subject in basic education, a discipline a filed of study in higher
- Education that deals with the process of teaching and learning about
the natural and physical world. This is what we call as school science.
4. It is an intellectual activity.
- It incorporates a methodical and applied study of the natural and
physical world that involves observation and experimentation.
SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
It is an era of enlightenment and intellectualization that
nurtured the developments in the fields of mathematics,
physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry that changed the
observation of society about the environment.
It modernizes the understanding and practices of science and gave birth
to the scientific processes and experimentations. The science knowledge
and practices produces during this period empowered the people to
reflect deeper, assess and reexamine their beliefs and their way of life.
Scientific revolution is a golden age for the people committed to
principles of science. It is also a difficult moment to some scientist who
experienced persecution or judgement from religious institutions that
preserved their religious faith and theological ideas. These opposing
views between religion and science, however, did not hamper the spirit
of scientists to pursue their scientific studies
The scientific revolution is so meaningful in the development of human
beings, growth of knowledge, transformation of the society, and in the
intervention of scientific ideas. It significantly perfected the conduct of
scientific studies, experiments, and observations. It led to the creation of
new research fields in science and inspired the formation of strong
institutions for modern science. The study of science and the scientific
methodwere introduced in learning institutions.
Intellectual Revolutions
that Defined Society
Nicolaus Copernicus
• One of the Renaissance men in science.
• Doing nothing extensive such as observing heavenly bodies or
inviting people to validate his ideas.
• Scientific ideas = Though experiment
• He was influenced by the book Epitome, published by a
German Johannes Mueller in 1946, containing
observations of the heavens and some commentary on
earlier works especially that of Ptolemy.
• 1500’s - his idea and model of the universe was
fundamentally completed.
• He disseminated a summary of his works to his few close friends in
a manuscript called Commentariolus (Little Commentary)
• His book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the
Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is often cited as the start of the
scientific revolution.
• In the book, he presented a model of the universe as the start of the
scietific revolution.
• He presented a model of the universe in which everything moved
around a particular center at consistent rate, placing the sun to be
centerpiece of the universe while all the planets are orbiting the
sun every year.
2 Kinds of Planetary Motion
1. orbits of Venus and Mercury lay inside the orbit of the
Earth, thus, closer to the Sun
2. orbits of Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter lay outsidethe Earth’s
orbit, thus, farther from the sun.
• From this model, he would work on the lengthof time it will
take for each planet to orbit once around the sun.
• Mercury has the shortest year
• Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn has the longest year.
• He positioned the planets in order of increasing distance
from the sun.
Charles Darwin
• Prominent for his theory of revolution.
• Published the book The Origin of Species in 1589.
• His book presented pieces of evidence on how species
evolved over time. He also presented pieces of evidence on
the traits and adaptation that are unique for different species.
• His book, The Descent of Man = impressive but controversial
Darwins theory introduced the idea that all organic life,
including human beings, under the realm of evolutionary
thinking. This superseded the prevailing religiousor
biblical views that God created human beings.
Sigmund Freud
• He’s famous in the field of psychology.
• Method of Psychoanalysis is an excellent method to study
the human mind and neurotic scientifically.
