By Carson Lester

SCIENTISTS AND THEIR

DISCOVERIES

During this time many people began to look into what we call “magic”. Many leaned towards the process of Alchemy, which Is the belief that matter could be transformed by secret mixtures and formulas. It isn’t surprising that many Greeks grew fond of the idea of alchemy, as many Greeks grew up hearing the story of King Midas turning everything he touched into gold. So the though of harnessing that power allured them

Those who broke away from the ways of magic and alchemy gave way to innovation; with new breakthroughs in engineering, navigation and architecture just to name a few. These new innovations gave way to new instruments such as the telescope and the microscope.

(first compound microscope)

COPERNICUS

Now, Copernicus was an interesting one. He was a phenomenal mathematician and he even studied at five different academies in five different cities. He stated, even though that he had year of math in his head, that Ptolemy’s geocentric model was too complex. This is where Copernicus got the original idea for the model of “Heliocentricity” or a model of the universe where the sun is in the middle and the planets revolve around it. His ideas were even adopted during the formation of the Julian Calendar.

GALILEO

One of the greatest astronomers of his time, Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy February 15th, 1564. He was inspired by the study of motion and created the

LAW OF PENDULUMof which he used to explain why and old lamp in a church would sway side to side; little did he know he would stumble on to the study of Earth’s rotation.

THE ASTRONOMY PART!

He discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons and our own moon has mountains!

Io Europa Callisto Ganymede

SIR ISAAC NEWTON

You all know how the story goes. One day Isaac Newton was in his garden at Woolsthorpe, contemplating under a tree about his studies. He was wondering exactly what held the universe together and what keeps planets in orbit. And then… Bonk!

He became the first to combine Astronomy and physics. He created a system of three laws to govern motion throughout Earth, the solar system, and the entire universe.

Rule 1: In the absence of force, motion continues in a straight line

Rule 2: The rate of change of motion is determined by the forces acting upon it

Rule 3: The action and reaction between two bodies are equal and opposite.

To arrive at these three laws he needed to define the concept of mass, force and inertia.

A balance between all of these, he said, can explain how the planets, satellites, and stars act upon one another.

Even though people criticized him for his work, claiming it wasn’t original he said“If I have seen further it is

by standing on the shoulders of giants”.

HIS PERSONAL LIFE

Newton maintained a comfortable social and economic status while staying in London.

He was elected president of the Royal Society after Robert Hooke’s death

He never married, even though he was engaged as a teenager

SCIENTISTS NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN

Kepler helped confirm Copernicus’ heliocentric model and developed laws on planetary motion

William Harvey discovered veins and arteries as well as accurately describing the actions of the heart; he also created the first complete theory of blood circulation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chambers, Mortimer. The Western Experience. Ninth ed. N.p.: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. Print.

Hatch, Robert A. "Isaac Newton Biography - Newton's Life, Career, Work - Dr Robert A. Hatch." Web.clas. N.p., 30 Nov. 1999. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.

Weisstein, Eric. "Harvey, William." Wolfram Research. N.p., 2007. Web. 18 Dec. 2012.