Because of its tendency towards mathematics, the new astronomy of the 16th and 17th centuries led to the rapid modification of scientific thought and methods.
Copernicus
- Ptolemaic system to Heliocentric theory
- This idea proved the metaphysical belief that simplicity was more likely a sign of truth than complexity and that a simpler mathematical formulation was better than a more complicated one because the heliocentric system was more smple thatn the Ptolsemaic or geocentric system
Kepler
- Discovered laws of planetary motion including that planets move in elliptical orbits rather than circular orbits
- Showed that the actual world of stubborn facts as observed by Tycho , and the purely rational world of mathematical harmony as surmised by Copernicus were not really in contradiction to each other
Galileo
- Built telescope and discovered that the heavenly bodies might be of the same substance as earth which modified the existing church related idea that the heavenly bodies were perfect orbs of light
- He also discovered that the stars were extremely far away rather than at no alarming distance as previous astronomers had assumed
- After Kepler derived laws of planetary motion, Galileo derived laws for the movement of bodies on earth
Newton
- invented calculus in order to understand the law of universal gravitation
- fed off of research of motion by Kepler and Galileo
- calculus led to a greater understanding of ballistics
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