Summary
Despite the advances in science and the efforts of the scientists of the
sixteenth and seventeenth century to demonstrate that the world and universe,
were governed by discernable laws, the Scientific Revolution had little impact
on the everyday lives and thoughts of the mass of European citizens. For
example, despite the advances in biology and the subsequent development in
medical theory, serious misconceptions about the human body remained widely
adhered to. The most notable example of this is the prevailing theory of the
four humors, developed by the Greeks. This theory held that the human body
contained four major fluids--blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm - and
that if one of the four fluids were present in too little or too great an
amount, predictable illness would result. The most widely experienced
manifestation of this theory was the use of leeches in the act of bloodletting,
a long-standing medical practice widely employed in the effort to return the
four humors to equilibrium. This disastrous practice remained common well after
more compelling theories on the chemistry of the human body were developed, and
even George Washington fell victim to
bloodletting when he became sick with pneumonia, an event which no doubt
accelerated his death.
The discoveries of the Scientific Revolution that overturned the tenets of
traditional belief systems were only gradually accepted by the general
population, and were often rejected by those who found their traditional beliefs
easier to comprehend, as well as more congruent with the beliefs of their
neighbors and of their church. Throughout the seventeenth century, despite the
breakthroughs made in astronomy and physics, most Europeans retained a belief in
astrology, ghosts, and magic. German princes often relied on court astrologers
as their closest advisors. Indeed, even Johannes Kepler sought to confirm
the power of astrology with the results of his work, though he proved unable to
do so.
One of the most prevalent superstitions of Europeans and their American brethren
during the seventeenth century was the belief in the existence and powers of
witches. The most notable extension of this belief was the hysteria in Salem,
Massachusetts, which resulted in the trial of some 200 people for witchcraft
during the summer of 1692. The Salem witch trials resulted in the execution of
20 people. The total numbers of executions in Europe are unknown for certain,
but it is estimated that between 1550 and 1700, about 5000 women were executed
for witchcraft in Switzerland, 700 in Germany, and 1000 in England. However, by
the dawn of the eighteenth century the witch-hunts had largely ended.
The reception (or non-reception) of the Scientific Revolution in Europe
demonstrates the stratification of society into levels of citizens to whom the
progress of science was accessible and understandable and those to whom the
progress of science was neither accessible nor understandable. For even though
many of the advances made were not wholeheartedly accepted by the elites and
intellectuals of the day, at the very least something of the spirit of the times
touched their lives and prepared them for the dawning of new beliefs, the
scientific nature of which they were often educated enough to comprehend. On
the other hand, the masses were largely untouched by the sentiment of the times
and unprepared for any news of progress and revolutionary change that might
trickle down to their ears. Despite advances in literacy and the wider spread
of books which resulted from the proliferation of the printing press, the common
European was left largely in the dark as to what was occurring in the world of
science, and even if suddenly enlightened would not have possessed the
intellectual background to assimilate the knowledge of progress into his or her
concept of the world. Thus when the first signs of the Scientific Revolution
began to show themselves to the masses, many reacted, not surprisingly, in fear
and disbelief.
Furthermore, in the lives of the impoverished masses, stability was of the
utmost importance. Maintenance of one's job, one's family life, one's quality
of living were the utmost goals of the commoner, and these goals informed the
reaction to suggestion that the principles upon which everyday life was thought
to be based were no longer valid. In the face of this threatened instability
and change, common Europeans often turned to the Church for guidance, for the
Church had been the most stable feature of the previous millennium, defining the
phenomena of the often hard to understand natural world, and in essence telling
the common churchgoer what to believe. The combination of the influence of the
Church and the traditions which had been passed down for hundreds of years
produced an attitude of mysticism which seemed to answer all of the difficult
questions of everyday life. Events in the natural world occurred not because of
the interaction of mechanical forces but because of the influence of the
positioning of the planets. This was a convenient and well-ingrained belief
system.
In fact, this belief system was so ingrained that even scientists themselves
often fell prey to it. The most illustrative case is that of Johannes Kepler,
who was convinced that the universe had to be arranged according to some grand
scheme, and that the teachings of astrology were largely correct. In keeping
with these ancient beliefs Kepler searched for a simple geometric model of the
universe, largely ignoring the evidence to the contrary. Kepler's was a common
dilemma faced by the thinkers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The
ancient traditions exercised a strong pull on many scientists, who often allowed
the supposed authorities of the past, or even simply the spirit of the past, to
cloud their judgment and limit the progress made by their work.
