Article review

Unit 4A: Chapter 7 Notes

Adapted from History of Psychology: The Making of a Science (Edward P. Kardas, 2014)

Susanne Nishino, Ph.D. 2013

Chapter 7: From the Renaissance to the Dawn of Science

Zeitgeist 1350 - 1700

• Roman Catholic Church prolonged crisis

• Martin Luther’s defiance of Pope led to Protestant Reformation, religious wards, later rigorous Catholic Counter-Reformation

• Resulted in two Europes: Roman Catholic & Protestant

• Ultimately led to increased secularism, decreased role for papacy in European affairs

• Long-lasting period of colonialism, rise of commerce & banking, expansion of middle-class, greater economic & social role for companies & corporations

• By 1700, Enlightenment ideas led to revolutions in United States & France

• By 17000, Europe & World transformed, philosophy evolved into modern form and science emerged as final arbiter of empirical knowledge

• Psychology’s distant origins evident by end of period, questions raised by philosophers began to be answered, 1st by physical sciences, later by social scientists

Middle Ages to Dawn of Science

• End of Middle Ages to dawn of science 400 years

• Three major historical events

– Renaissance

– Protestant Reformation

– Counter Reformation

• Product of this 400 year period = rise of science

• Astronomers such as Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brache, & Johannes Kepler firmly demolished ancient geocentric (earth centered) model of universe, substituted heliocentric model of universe

• Heliocentrism = astronomical model in which planets revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits

• Other sciences & scientists followed

• Isaac Newton studied physics of light, provided theoretical explanation for gravity the force that holds planets in orbit

• Rene Descartes resolved own skepticism, Cognito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), went on to promote thoroughly mechanistic view of animals and dualistic view of humans

• Political writings of John Locke and economic writings of Adam Smith 1st stirrings of social sciences

• Philosophy changed

• Questions raised by Descartes & other philosophers remained questions for 1st psychologists

• Rise of science & philosophy during this period provided foundation for emergence of scientific psychology during 19th century.

The Renaissance

• Humanism helped ignite Renaissance

• Growth of cities, commerce, wealthy patrons spread changes in education, art, & architecture

• Education in classics and gymnastics sought to create “Renaissance men”

• Artists such as Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo

• Invention of printing press, printed matter cheaply & large quantities

– Gutenberg movable type printing press 1440

– Humanism’s emphasis on language

– Revolution in communication

– Modern web mostly done on top of template of the printed page

– Printing press more transformative in quantity & type of new material

Erasmus (1467 – 1536)

• Dutch, Augustinian priest, developed lifelong dislike for Scholastics & their methods, contemporary of Martin Luther, refused to leave Catholic Church

• Influenced by John Colet lecture on Bible as literary text, realized must learn Greek to understand original meaning because Greek original language of New Testament, textual analysis to understand meaning

• Combined Humanism with theology to publish works on Christianity

– One of 1st media celebrities, instant success of “The Praise of Folly” satirizing Roman Catholic practices & clergy, one of 1st to take advantage of printing press, 1st author to enjoy benefits of mass market, rose to prominence because of literary skills

• Like Augustine believed primary form of religion should be inward to one’s mind, believed outward practice of religion series of automatic responses instead of guide to life

• Produced new translation of Bible, Greek on one side of page, corresponding Latin on the other side, attempted to create trilingual college (Latin, Greek, Hebrew), idea to critically examine older texts to trace historical development of Christian thought

• Life & works representative of Humanism, writings perceived relationship between god and humans, sought to understand God through critical analysis of texts

• Erasmus’s successful application of Humanism’s methods to biblical scholarship began revolution in theology, finally put end to methodology of medieval scholastics

Protestant Reformation & Catholic Counter-Reformation

• Martin Luther ignited, use of printing press, printing in Latin & German, allowed others to learn his ideas quickly, Lutheranism only one of several Protestant denominations that arose during period, Protestant denominations continue to divide today

• Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation response to Protestant Reformation, led to armed conflict, 1000s death, permanent division in Christianity

• Various Protestant Reformations put end to medieval idea of Western Christiandom

• Led to 1st stirrings of modernism

Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

• Augustinian monk, precipitating event for Luther’s revolt was sale of indulgences

• October 31, 1517 posted famous 95 Theses on church door Wittenberg, also printed and widely distributed in Latin & German, Pope declared him heretic, New Holy Roman Emperor Charles V allowed Luther public hearing

• Lutheran Church, most radical change was justification by faith, preached God’s grace alone leads to salvation, good works did not ensure salvation, also allowed clergy to marry

• Power of words spread through medium of printed page

• Reformation inimical to Humanism, many humanists Catholic clergy, Protestants fell away from ideals of humanistic free inquiry, early Protestants 1st Christian fundamentalists, Bible as only source of knowledge & truth

• Catholic Counter-Reformation through force also rolled back gains

The Counter Reformation

• Catholic Reformation reacted slowly to disputes between Roman Catholic Church & new Protestant denomination

• By 1545 too late to put competing forms of Christianity back together

• Catholic Church made nominal reforms, created new mechanism Index of Prohibited Books, list later included scientific works, also establishment of Roman Inquisition 1542, modeled after Spanish Inquisition, purpose to root out heretics, soon used against natural philosopher Galileo

• Bloody religious wars, most famous Thirty Years War

• Eventual religious boundary division of Europe into Protestant & Roman Catholic, nearly unchanged until today

The Rise of Science

• In the religious reformations & European religious boundaries environment, scientists 1st began to discover & publish facts about the universe

• Importance of Christian setting of Easter date

• By 16th century obvious Julian calendar incorrect, later Gregorian calendar 1582

Nicolas Copernicus (1473 – 1543)

• Astronomer who refused to work on calendar problem because believed better knowledge about actual motions of heavenly bodies needed first

• Spent time working on alternative theory to better explain positions & motions of sun, moon, six known planets

• His heliocentric model of universe eventually revolutionary, sparked beginning of modern science

• Wrote major work 1543, preface explained motive was to reform liturgical calendar, switched positions of earth & sun as center of the universe to eliminate Ptolemy’s need for arbitrary concepts, substitute system that only required spheres & spherical motion

• Copernicus’s model implication for other scientists, astronomer’s eventually realized using model universe much larger than previously thought, another implication Aristotle’s physics wrong because held all matter attracted to center of universe (earth), if not center of universe what explained attraction, other empirical issues also led directly to inquiry into basic nature of objects, their motion, & their locations

Tycho Brache (1546 – 1601)

• Observed total eclipse of sun, combined with discovery of tables used to make predictions

• Realized old astronomical tables in error in predicting planetary conjunction, resolved to construct new tables bases on careful & precise observation of the sky, project mapping sky with new level of precisions

• Confirmed new celestial objects could appear in 8th heaven, outermost sphere of Ptolemic universe where Ptolemy theory located fixed stars

• Used astronomical instruments he created to measure locations of stars & planets with higher level of precision

• Supernova appearance 1572, his measurement revealed in region of fixed stars, not between earth and moon, contrary to Ptolemy’s theory, published his findings

• Fredrick II king of Denmark, 21 years allowed Brahe to make precise measurement of locations of stars & planets using quadrants & sextants of his own design

• Also developed procedures for correcting errors due to atmospheric refraction, conducted multiple measurements of same star or planet to ensure reliability of measurement

• Pioneered basic empirical techniques of science

Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)

• After advisor and mathematician for Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, Tycho Brache unable to continue to collect astronomical data

• Employed Kepler as astronomer to help work out mathematical details of Tychonic model of the universe that had planets circling the sun, while the sun and moon circled a still stationary earth

• Early convert to Copernicus’s ideas, mathematics faculty, duties to prepare astrological horoscopes & calendars, began to think of how regular shaped could be nested in a circle with just points touching circle, possible mathematical model of the universe

• Published book, poor reception, mixing math and physics, Aristotle long held mathematics as liberal art and physics as part of natural philosophy, physicists from Aristotle on had not looked for underlying evidence to support or explain observations

• One of main changes during era was rise of mathematics as scientific took, mathematics & measurement drove early rise of science

• Tycho Brache needed assistant at new observatory in Prague, hired Kepler, eventually gave Kepler data he had painstakingly collected about orbit of planet Mars, eventually all data, relented & decided to collaborate with Kepler to produce new set of astronomical tables, died shortly after

• Kepler realized treasure trove of data, began to analyze mathematically, breakthrough realized Earth also planet, that all orbits were elliptical = Kepler’s 1st Law

• Kepler’s 2nd Law = all planets swept equal areas in equal times, mathematical relationship

• Kepler’s 3rd Law = square of time required to complete one orbit proportional to cube of any planet’s mean distance from sun

• Provided mathematical explanations for physical phenomena

• Took Brache’s precise observations & interpreted them mathematically

• Made his analysis of Copernican model of universe the logical choice for rational thinkers

• New way of learning about the universe emerging, combined mathematics & physics

Galileo (1564 – 1642)

• Professor of mathematics, early convert to Copernican model of universe

• Galileo’s work in mathematics helped elevate as a discipline

• Created improved version of telescope, discovered new astronomical facts, 1610 using telescope made scientific discovery of Jupiter four Moons, discovery of moons on another planet made Tychonic theory less likely, supported Copernicus’s theory

• Met with Jesuit astronomers and Lyncean Academy, earliest scientific learned society

• Book placed on Catholic Index, Church’s attack on Copernicianism part of larger response to Reformation, integral part of Counter Reformation

• Improved on sector military instrument, evolved into early mathematical computing device, forerunner to slide rule, mechanical calculators, & today’s electronic devices, science & measurement linked ever since

• Under house arrest wrote his opus, cemented place in history as founder of post-Aristotelian physics & new discipline of materials science

• Life’s work included technologies, physics of motion, strength of materials, acceleration

Borders with Biology: Microbiology

• Technology of telescope when inverted created compound microscope

• Anthony Leeuwenhoek crafted single lens microscopes, used to discover bacteria, reported findings to Royal society

• Robert Hooke replicated & confirmed finding with compound microscope of his own design

• Hooke’s findings published 1665, 1st publication of Royal Society

• New instruments had revealed new facts in biology

Religious Intolerance

• 1553 Protestant Inquisition burned Michael Servetus at stake in Geneva by Calvin

• 1600 Roman Inquisition remanded Giordano Bruno to stake for heretical views

• Religious intolerance not solely property of one version of Christianity

• Both Catholics & Protestants highly intolerant of deviations from their versions of orthodoxy

Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)

• Experiments in calculus, optical theory, gravity, & alchemy

• 1st lectures on optics, admitted into Royal Society

• Attacks by Robert Hooke who did not agree with Newton’s corpuscular theory of light, Hooke working on finding mechanism to explain Kepler’s planetary mechanisms, had idea inverse square law might be key, wrote Newton, Newton didn’t respond

• Newton’s response to astronomer Edmund Haley on how he knew orbits elliptical, “I have calculated it.”

• Study of gravity related to orbital mechanics, gravity never explained to present day modern physics

• More fully orbital mechanics with three laws of motion, Newton’s laws of motion have persisted until present day, used by scientists and engineers

– Objects at rest stay at rest, objects in motion stay in motion

– Motion & force proportional, force applied will cause motion in direction of force

– Every action has an equal & opposite reaction

• Newton’s intent to refute Descartes philosophical principles

• Attempting to provide mathematical basis for natural philosophy

• Controversy over claim of priority to discovery of calculus, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz also claimed priority, both invented independently

• Deep interest in religious topics, especially interest in deciphering secrets in Scripture

• Believed scientific work had helped uncover the presence of god and his works, never believed perfect physical scheme as universe could have come to exist with god

• Bequeathed theories to the world of interest to scientists to present day, some scientists attempted to apply Newtonian analyses to human beings

• By 19th century, psychologists inspired by Newton & others would attempt to search for laws of behavior

Border With Social Science

• Distant origins of several social sciences, didn’t fully bloom until 19th century

• Archeology, Anthropology, Political Science, Linguistics

Ideas

• Laws of nature, later psychologists attempt to find laws of psychophysics & behavior

• Mathematics used to express laws

• Measurement, related to mathematics, realized precise measurements of observations would provide raw data

• Importance of creating specialized equipment to collect data beyond power of human senses

• Mechanism = idea that everything has a natural cause

• 17th century innovations would carry forward into psychology and become part of toolkit

Summary

• Renaissance result of many historical forces

– Humanism

– Growth of cities

– Increases in commerce & population

– Wealthy patrons

– Exploration & colonialism

– Spread of European ideas, technology, & religions

• Erasmus melded Humanism & religion

• Martin Luther gave birth to Protestant Reformation

• Periods of war following Reformations permanently divided into two parts based on religion

• Summary

• 1st stirrings of science during 16th century

– Copernicus new radical view of universe

– Brahe observation equipment and measurement

– Kepler approach to discover rules of intrinsic order God used to create universe, used data Brahe had collected , worked out details of geocentric model

– Galileo use of new instrument telescope to discover new facts

– Royal Society members free discussion of scientific topics, published results

– Newton, 1st reflecting telescope, publications earth shattering, 1st time combined data from observations with mathematical descriptions of the forces causing them

– Scientific revolution had begun

– In time, psychology, the scientific study of behavior & mental process would also become a science