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How Did Isaac Newton Contribute To The Scientific Revolution

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During the sixteenth century, the Scientific Revolution was a time when people questioned the physical world around them. They soon discovered the mathematical and scientific reasoning behind the wonders of the universe. This era has served as a basic building block to the development of modern technology and science. One of the Scientific Revolution's most influential scientists was Isaac Newton, whose discoveries regarding gravity, motion, and calculus have affected our daily lives. Prior to Isaac Newton's scientific and mathematical breakthroughs, many people relied upon the Roman Catholic Church to educate them. Newton's discoveries of the laws of gravity, calculus, and the three laws of motion contributed to the success of Scientific …show more content…

These people had complete faith and devotion to the Church, and not an ounce of doubt ever surfaced. Monasteries and convents were prevalent during the Middle Ages. Many men and women became monks and nuns, devoted to the Church and God. During this time, a monk named Benedict created the Benedictine Rule. The importance of worship, education, obedience, and chastity was constantly stressed in The Rule. Monks and nuns pledged to stay obedient to their leaders, be grateful through poverty, and perform chastity. These monks and nuns were forced to always pray, study, learn, and perform laborious tasks each and every day. Since they were devoted to the Church, they assumed that everything they were taught was accurate and correct. They read Greek and Roman texts and were also educated in Latin. This language was spoken by all of the Church and educated citizens. The Roman Catholic Church also educated and taught everyone to believe in the Ptolemaic System, an idea created by Ptolemy. This theory stated that the Earth was the center of the universe and all planets revolve around Earth. Evidently, this is not the case: the Sun is the center of the universe (Smith, George; Spade, Paul Vincent). Since everyone who was educated by the Church believed this, it represents the people's blind faith and devotion to the Church, who they believed anything that they were taught. It was not until Isaac …show more content…

Newton's discovery of gravity explains why everything falls to the ground it also supported the theory that planets travel in an elliptical path around the Sun. He also stated gravity increases if mass increases. The force of gravity decreases when the distance between objects gets smaller (Smith, George). Isaac Newton's creation of the three laws of motion explain friction, which explain why cars accelerate and also helps today’s track athletes improve their speed. He also explained Force = mass x acceleration, which serves as common knowledge for people today. For example, the heavier something is, the more acceleration you need to push or move it (Schmid, David). Newton led to the discovery of a new form of mathematics that included the binomial theorem and fluxions, known as today's calculus by saying, "I found the method for approximating series and the binomial theorem. The same year I found the method for tangents of Gregory and in November had the direct method of fluxions (The October 1666 Tract on Fluxions)." In 1704, Newton published the first English edition of a book called Optiks, which was the first time calculus had been presented and explained in print. This book served as the basic building blocks and introduction to calculus. Newton was later able to explain calculus much more in-depth in his book, De Analysi Per Equations Numero Terminorum Infinitas. It also contained

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