Free 17th Century Scientific Discoveries Essay Sample

In the 17th century, something pretty exciting happened. That's when scientists and their brilliant ideas really started to shine. It was like a time when science and inventions became best buddies, and together, they pushed humanity forward. Think of science as a superhero, and scientists as the superheroes' sidekicks. These sidekicks studied the work of their predecessors and used their knowledge to solve problems and make new discoveries. They did experiments to test their ideas and came up with all sorts of cool stuff. This period was like a treasure trove of amazing advancements, and some really smart scholars played a big role in it.

Now, let's dive into the story of Johannes Kepler, one of the superheroes of science. He's famous for cracking the secret of how planets move. Kepler's journey into planetary motion began when he worked as an assistant to Tycho Brahe, another famous scientist. Together, they collected a ton of information about planets. Kepler also worked on something called the Rudolphine tables, which is like a massive book of stars and planets. But his coolest achievement was when he wrote a book about how light behaves, which is basically the foundation of how we understand optics today. He even improved Galileo's telescope by using two special lenses that made things look really big. In 1619, he published a book that explained his third law of planetary motion, a rule that helps us understand how planets move. And in 1623, he finished the Rudolphine Tables, which were finally published in 1627.

Kepler also made a super fancy telescope with two lenses, and it's now known as an astronomical telescope. But here's the interesting part: because Kepler was a devout Christian, he believed that understanding the universe was like peeking into the mind of its creator. However, his second wife wasn't too thrilled about his personality. In 1611, politicians turned to Kepler for advice when there was a whole lot of tension between politics and religion in Prague.

Now, meet another superhero of science, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727). He was an English philosopher and one of the most original and influential thinkers of his time. Newton's claim to fame is his discovery of the law of gravity, which totally changed the way we see the world. He was one of the key players in the scientific discoveries of the 17th century.

Newton wasn't just about gravity, though. He had a bunch of other cool ideas, like infinitesimal calculus (fancy math), the generalized binomial theorem, Newton's identities, and Newton's method. He was also the first person to use something called coordinate geometry, a way of using numbers to describe the positions of things. Between 1670 and 1672, he showed that you could use a piece of glass called a prism to split white light into all the colors of the rainbow. Then he figured out how to put those colors back together using lenses and more prisms. This led to his theory of color, and he came up with three laws of motion, which played a big role in the industrial revolution.

Newton became famous for his book called the Principia, and in 1690, he wrote about religion. He argued that gravity wasn't responsible for making planets move; there was something else causing their motion.

Newton's discoveries also had a huge impact on religion. Some people used his ideas to show that you could have a religion based on the natural world. But not everyone was a fan of Newton's way of mixing science with strange ideas. Even today, Newton's work continues to inspire scientists, as shown by a survey from Britain's Royal Society. Joseph-Louis Lagrange once called him the greatest genius, and his legacy remains a bit of a mystery.

These two science superheroes really changed the way people thought during their time. Their discoveries didn't just stay in the books; they improved how people lived and did things.