Major Contributions to the Scientific Revolution

There were a number of contributions in the fields of astronomy. Nicholas Copernicus did not believe in Ptolemy's geocentric system. In opposition to Ptolemy, he created the heliocentric theory, claiming that the Earth revolves around the sun. He went on to claim that all of the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun and the moon does rotate around the Earth. Another noteworthy person in the field of astronomy is the German, Johannes Kepler. He furthered the heliocentric model, proving that the orbits of the planets were elliptical - not circular, as was previously believed. His input to the heliocentric model made the theory become undeniable. Galileo Galilei made a large impact on astronomy as well. He became the first person to view the sky, stars, planets, moons, etc. through a telescope. Also, Galilei used his telescope to figure out that the material of Earth is not the same throughout the universe. Using his own work, the telescope, he saw mountains on the moon, four moons revolving around Jupiter, and sunspots. Galileo added all of these achievements. Following Galileo was a man named Isaac Newton. He wrote Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, which tells the reader of three laws of motion. These laws of motion are applied to planets as well as Earth. One of the biggest concepts in this piece of work is the law of gravity, which explained the elliptical pattern of the Earth. Every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity, according to Newton.

There were also a number of achievements done in the field of medicine. William Harvey described the circulation of blood in the body. He experimented and found that blood is "pumped" around the body by the heart. French chemist Antoine Lavoisier discovered oxygen, which then allowed them to understand how respiration works. Another advancement that occurred was the first blood transfusion from human to human. Using the newly invented microscope, Marcello Malpighi studied the liver, skin, lungs, spleen, glands, and brain. The invention of the stethoscope allowed phyicians to listen to the sounds of internal organs. Italian anatomist, Giovanni Morgagni founded the discipline of pathological anatomy. He showed that specific diseases were located in specific organs. Dutch professor Hermann Boerhaave is credited the first person to use a thermometer to figure out changes in the body's temperature. Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays in 1895. British country doctor Edward Jenner developed the vaccine to cure smallpox.

Compare the fields of astronomy and medicine during the Scientific Revolution, and it is apparent that both of these subjects progressed greatly. Each of them had success in their areas and expanded the knowledge of their topics.