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The Scientific Revolution Really Occurred

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2007

WILLIAM R. SHEA
Affiliation:
University of Padua, Via Jappelli, 1, 30121 Padova, Italy. Email: william.shea@unipd.it

Abstract

The importance of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century has been queried in recent years and this paper attempts to show why the notion is still essential to a proper understanding of the twin advance in scientific conceptualization and factual discovery that began in the sixteenth century and led through such figures as Galileo to the new world view of Isaac Newton. The significance of the scholastic tradition, hermeticism and alchemy is not denied, but the major breakthrough that catapulted Europe into the modern age was the outcome of new conceptual tools and a fresh outlook on nature.

Type
Focus: Thoughts on the Scientific Revolution
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2007

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