Classical astronomy was based on Aristotle’s concepts and was relatively rudimentary. Centuries after the times of Aristotle, a lot of beliefs started to shift, and scientific revolutions began to produce more discoveries. Galileo and Copernicus contributed to science by proposing their theories about the cosmos. Copernicans believed that stars, like the sun, did not move, but the theories were only developed with the times of Newton. As a result, several conditions, such as religion, new technologies, and scientific societies, had to be met in order to advance astronomical knowledge.
The first condition was the religion and beliefs of people. In the 17th century, the vast majority of people tended to debate the existence of outer space, which was the barrier to further research (Rabin 2019). Many believed that the studies of Copernicus were against the Bible (Rabin 2019). As a result, it was of utmost importance to create a balance between society and faith. Centuries later, this issue did not pose any threat to scientific developments.
The second condition was the scientific society, which contributed heavily to the development of astronomical knowledge. This society focused on teamwork and published various academic works (Brosnan et al.). Such societies quickly became quite popular and spread to other countries (Brosnan et al.). These societies possessed a lot of information and had a lot to offer to the scientific field, with Newton being the most significant contributor. With his help, it was possible to establish the three laws of motion and gravitation.
Along with religion and scientific societies, there is another condition that paved the way to the advancement of astronomical knowledge. At the time of the work of Copernicus and his disciples, there were many technological advances (Tyson 2005). However, there were still challenges, and they were resolved by Newton. This man improved the classic telescope, and with these improvements, it could magnify any matter by 40 times (Tyson 2005).
Hence, the advance of astronomical knowledge relied on several conditions, including religion, the establishment of scientific societies, and improvements of traditional technologies. While major advancements were made at the time of Copernicus, the scientists were still under pressure from religion and people. However, with the teamwork of scholars and improvements to the equipment, it was possible to make other vital discoveries.
References
Brosnan, Jennie, Shalon van Tine, Benjamin Guyer, Martin Odler, Sarah Jeong, Tashia Dare, Antoine Leveque, et al. “New Learning or Scientific Revolution?” History of Applied Science Technology. The Digital Press. Web.
Rabin, Sheila. “Nicolaus Copernicus.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University, 2019. Web.
Tyson, Peter. “Newton’s Legacy.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 2005. Web.