What constitutes a revolution? This was the main argument presented in Professor Cohen’s lecture on the Scientific Revolution. In the lecture he talked about the two main theories of a revolution. In the lecture Professor Cohen brought forward two main ideas about a revolution. One being the classical and more straightforward revolution that is an object going around another object. The one that was more important to the point we are talking about is a revolution that changes the present state of think or how people will act. However, in the lecture it was left out a major factor in determining a revolution.
When looking at revolutions in these two types of context we can throw away the first thought about rotations around an object, obviously the scientific revolution is more in the discussion of a change of thought or action. Based on the lecture of Professor Cohen, even though it might contradict what he was trying to say the scientific revolution in fact was a revolution. One main point about revolutions that was left out was there legacy, or how they are remembered as time goes on. When we look at most revolutions not only did they cause change, but they were remembered. In US history the American Revolution is our most famous behind the Civil War. While the Civil War is not remembered as a revolution it sparked the slow moving civil rights movement that is very well remembered as one. Even more recently we have experienced the technological revolution across the world. It has increased the ability for people to be able to connect, but will also be marked by more people finding seclusion within our devices.
With both of these ideas in mind looking back at the Scientific Revolution presents it to me as more of a revolution before. The simplest example of this is current high school students’ psychic books. Within every single one of these books discusses Newton’s three laws and how they will be extremely important for the majority of the course. While Newton’s laws were in today’s context simple compared to the laws and theories currently developed it does point out the lasting presence that the Scientific Revolution had on today’s society. Without the work done by the scientist of the Scientific Revolution then our discoveries of today might have been delayed.
It is important to note that like many Revolutions, without them the presence might not be far from where it is now but it would not be exactly similar. Eventually America would have broken away from the British Empire like every country eventually did. Civil Rights would have become the main front fight for equality like they had. Without the Scientific Revolution it would have taken other thinkers in the future time to blaze the path that previous thinkers had already done. For this the Scientific Revolution was a revolution for the work it laid for future thinkers. It created work that is still talked about today.