Was the Scientific Revolution Largely a Result of Technological Shifts from the Renaissance?

Was the Scientific Revolution largely a result of technological shifts from the Renaissance?

Introduction

The shift from the renaissance to the scientific revolution is one marked by certain characteristics. Technological shifts come to mind as they play a key role in allowing for more discoveries. Shifts in political structures, general philosophy and thought also contribute more than their fair share.

However, was Galileo able to theorize whether the universe followed a heliocentric model because the invention of the telescope allowed him to do so or did a change in social context expand the conformities of his mind and allowed him to interpret what he saw in the way he did? This question underlies the shifts that cause the renaissance to transit the scientific revolution.

Firstly, distinction should be divided between the period of renaissance and the scientific revolution. The renaissance can be characterized by the emphasis on natural philosophy and Aristotelian philosophy of Ð''learning to understand nature by observation and contemplation its ordinary course'.

Thus, the scientific revolution can be seen as a shift away from Aristotelian philosophy towards a mechanical philosophy with the emphasis on calculation, experimentation and precision.

Technological and philosophical changes

Natural philosophy or Aristotelian philosophy was based knowledge that was from the past and observed by Ð''someone who had perceived the same thing countless times'.

This also meant that there was less incentive to innovate and discover new things because all that could be known was already known.

Unfortunately, the inability of Aristotelian traditions to solve pragmatic problems such as the Ptolemaic astronomical model being unable to accurately calculate the date of Easter meant that there was room for individuals such as Copernicus to seek improvement.

Copernicus, however, did not radically invoke a revolution. Instead, his conclusions were based upon inspiration from ancient Pythagorean writers. Together with the recovery of other ancient mathematical texts, the status of mathematics was thus elevated.

Subsequently, mathematics was more widely used for navigational purposes with the advent of colonialism and the technological advances in warfare and other civil engineering feats raised the status of the mathematician further.

The Jesuits further encouraged the use of mathematics in natural philosophy and promulgated this throughout the colleges that they set up. This lead individuals like Descartes to develop systems Ð''which saw the physical world in mathematical terms'.

Thus, the increased use of mathematics led to a change in the mindsets of the learned and thus promoted the invention of newer, more sophisticated tools for various purposes such as navigation, warfare and astronomy but this happened primarily because the old Aristotelian systems failed to solve certain pragmatic problems that existed perhaps adding to the perception that the philosophy could be flawed.

The development of the printing press accounts greatly for the spread of ideas among the learned. This led to the printing of more knowledge for the learned but also books which Ð''presented practical, but usually recondite, information to people'.

However, it must be said that the print shops could only appear because of a fairly high literacy rate among western Europeans and an availability of a wide range of Ð''philosophical and general intellectual options'.

The discovery of new lands and other developments that came with it also undermined the notion of previously held notions being highly regarded. This fall in regard for previously esteemed natural philosophy only helped popularize revolutionary ideas, such as Galileo's conviction of Copernicus's heliocentric theory, that were once deemed heretical.

Social and Political changes

The development of natural history can be seen as a gradual shift. Starting with a gradual concern to Ð''extend the ancient encyclopedic surveys of the natural world', renaissance scholars made full use of existing technologies to circumvent problems faced when going about their endeavor. For example, they used the printing press to depict more accurate descriptions of natural life as opposed to ancient descriptions which could be hazy sometimes.

However, this led to more factual descriptions where the discovery of new things was concerned as opposed to the ancient way of ascribing folklore