Dr. McCaskey on "Into the Historian's Workshop: How Historians are Finding the True Foundations of the Scientific Revolution"
For much of the twentieth century, it was believed that the Scientific Revolution that began with Copernicus and Vesalius was the result of the rejection of Aristotle's methods and the adoption of Plato's. But historians are now discovering that it was the opposite. In this talk, Dr. John McCaskey will explore the foundations of the great age of scientific discovery that ran from Copernicus to Galileo, Harvey, Boyle, and Newton, all the way to Charles Darwin. In particular, Dr. McCaskey will show how historians are coming to better understand the methods that these great thinkers used.
Why what you learned about Copernicus's discovery in high school is wrong (and how you yourself could have known it).
How we know that Galileo really performed the experiments that some have doubted. (We'll try one using water and wine and you'll see.)
The truth about Isaac Newton's interest in alchemy.
That Charles Darwin's ideas weren't rejected by the clergy (as any tourist to London should suspect).
Participants will learn not only about the Scientific Revolution but about the methods by which historians understand the past.
Dr. McCaskey will also give a short presentation on The Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship.
John P. McCaskey, Ph.D. in history, is the founder and president of the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh. He spent twenty years in the computer business, most recently as founder of Epiphany, Inc., before returning to academia in 2001.