Science and Technology - AP European History

Kepler, Copernicus, and Galileo were all notable astronomers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Collectively they did a great deal to advance our understanding of the Earth’s place in the solar system and in the universe. Copernicus was the first to prove, mathematically (his work improved upon by Kepler), that the sun, not the Earth, was the centre of the solar system. For their efforts, all three of these men had to fear intense church retribution when publishing their works.

Copernicus wrote On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres in the sixteenth century, and this work was published after his death. This work described a heliocentric model of the universe, in which the sun was posited as the center of the universe, with the planets revolving around it. Copernicus's model implicitly disputed the accuracy of the prevailing scientific model, the Ptolemaic or geocentric model, in which the earth was the center of the universe. Also, note that Copernicus's model did not recognize that planetary motion was elliptical.

In 1600, William Gilbert published his groundbreaking work on magnetism, specifically in regard to the magnetic nature of the Earth’s atmosphere. This made navigation and the use of compasses far easier and more reliable and allowed European explorers and traders to push further afield and to have much greater faith in the security of their journeys.

All of these people made notable contributions to mankind’s understanding of the nature of the solar system and the universe, but the discovery that planets move in elliptical orbits, as opposed to perfect circles as was initially believed, was made by Johannes Kepler in the seventeenth century.

Analytical geometry is the study of geometry that employs a coordinate system and marries geometry and algebra in a way previously not understood by European mathematicians. The work was pioneered by René Descartes in his work La Géométrie. It laid the foundation for the invention of calculus a few decades later by Isaac Newton and Wilhelm Leibniz.

For much of history, from the time when Aristotle lived until the Scientific Revolution, it was assumed that light travelled instantaneously. However, Galileo postulated, correctly as it turns out, that all we can deduce is that light travels faster than the speed of sound, but does not necessarily travel instantaneously.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek is considered to be the world’s first microbiologist. He greatly improved the capabilities of microscopes, and in doing so, opened up the world of the microscopic to human examination for the first time in human history. Among other things, he is believed to be the first human being to observe single-celled organisms, bacteria, yeast, and blood cells.

Robert Hooke was an English scientist in the seventeenth century who, among other things, pioneered work in the field of microbiology. He was the first man to employ the term “cell” to describe the composition of organisms that he observed under a microscope.

The first reliable mercury thermometer was invented by the German scientist Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1714. The scale used to measure temperature was later altered by the Swedish scientist Anders Celsius, who set the freezing point of water at zero and the boiling point at one hundred and created the Celsius temperature measurement system. Lord Kelvin is famous for inventing the Kelvin scale that sets its zero point at absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature attainable before matter becomes completely motionless and devoid of energy.

The Ptolemaic system of the solar system was developed by a classical-era Roman scholar named Claudius Ptolemy. It is more often referred to as the geocentric model of the universe, or the geocentric model of the solar system. It was widely influential throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period as the primary model for understanding the movement of the planets and the sun. According to this model of the solar system, the Earth is at the center and all the other planets, the sun, and the stars revolve around the Earth. This was later disproved by Copernicus, who postulated the heliocentric model of the solar system in which the planets revolve around the sun.

On the Fabric of the Human Body is one of the most influential works on human anatomy in European history. It was written by Andreas Vesalius in the mid-sixteenth century and refuted the long held belief in Galen’s understanding of the “humors” and human blood.

Sir Francis Bacon was an English scientist in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries who pioneered the scientific method and greatly emphasized the importance of inductive reasoning as opposed to deductive reasoning. His development of the scientific method is one of the most important steps of the Scientific Revolution and contributed to the massive growth in human understanding of chemistry and physics in the centuries that followed. In the scientific method, the first step is to gather facts and then to conduct unbiased experiments designed to test a certain theory; this differed greatly from the earlier approach of running experiments and then postulating a theory to match the outcome of the test.

Throughout the Scientific Revolution, the Papacy was extremely hostile to any developments that challenged the church’s established doctrine on creation and the nature of the universe. This was particularly true of any revelations to do with astronomy, to the point where Copernicus waited until after his death to have his work on the heliocentric model of the solar system published, and Galileo lived in constant fear of punishment and execution.

Robert Boyle was an Irish chemist who lived during the seventeenth century. He is most widely known for his innovations in the field of chemistry, particularly Boyle’s Law—an equation conveying the inverse relationship between pressure and volume of gas.

Copernicus wrote On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres in the sixteenth century, and this work was published after his death. This work described a heliocentric model of the universe, in which the sun was posited as the center of the universe, with the planets revolving around it. Copernicus's model implicitly disputed the accuracy of the prevailing scientific model, the Ptolemaic or geocentric model, in which the earth was the center of the universe. Also, note that Copernicus's model did not recognize that planetary motion was elliptical.

Alternate current was patented by Nikola Tesla, who was a former employee of Thomas Edison, the inventor of Direct current.

Copernicus concluded through observation of the stars' movements in the sky that the sun is the center of the solar system. This contradicted the contemporary dogma of the Catholic Church, which taught that the sun and other stars revolved around the Earth.

Leonardo da Vinci was the famous Renaissance artist and inventor who painted the Mona Lisa.

Isaac Newton defined the Laws of Motion that explain gravity and other phenomena.

Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for her discoveries involving radioactivity.

Louis Pasteur recognized the existence of bacteria and devised a process for destroying them in liquids (pasteurization).

Karl Popper was a 20th-century philosopher of science and he lived far after the discovery of classical mechanics, so he would not be the best choice. Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system and he did not publish the book in question, so he would not be a good choice. Lord Kelvin famously created the temperature system that accounts for absolute zero, but he did not publish the book in question, so he would not be the best choice. DaVinci was a great inventor but he lived long before the discovery of classical mechanics, so he is not the correct answer. Lastly, Isaac Newton published the book in question and discovered classical mechanics, so he would be the best answer here.

Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system in Europe and did not study radiation, so he would not be the best choice. Aristotle was more a philosopher than scientist and he lived far before the discovery of radiation, so he would not be a good answer. Isaac Newton discovered classical mechanics but did not work on radiation, so he would not be the best answer. Lastly, Marie Curie is recognized for performing some of the pioneering work in radiation - her lab is still too radioactive to enter unprotected - so she would be the best choice.

Bertrand Russel was a mathematician and philosopher and was not concerned with evolution, so he would not be the best choice. Watson and Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, so they would not be the correct answer. Isaac Newton discovered classical mechanics, so he would not be a good choice. Albert Einstein lived after the discovery of evolution, so he would not be the best answer. Lastly, Charles Darwin famously published his book On the Origin of Species about evolution by natural selection, so he would be the best answer.