Topic Six: the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
I. The Scientific Revolution
A. Science in the Middle Ages
1. Rediscovery of Aristotle
a. beginnings empiricism (experimentation)
b. transmission through the Moslem world
2. Not very widely accepted however
3. Culture not in place to accept new scientific thought
4. Adoption of Arabic numerals is an important step
B. Renaissance Science
1. Humanism, the discovery of the Americas, the Protestant
Reformation all provide a new world view that allows for scientific
advancement
2. New wealth created by mercantilism also helps
C. Astronomy
1. Early Astronomy
a. earth-centric view because the Mesopotamians and
Egyptians could not solve the problem of precession and
motion (the jump and stay in one place problem)
b. also develop the idea of a closed, intimate universe
2. Ptolemy’s Almagest
a. creates the model of the universe that is accepted until
Copernicus in the 15th century
b. closed, earth-centric universe with epicyclical orbits
c. Ptolemy didn’t accept his theory but others did
3. Enter Nicholaus Copernicus, 1473-1543, Polish astronomer
a. challenges the Ptolemaic idea of the universe
b. On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543) made
the sun the center of the universe
c. solves the problem of precession
d. to Copernicus the sun = God, God = center of the
universe
e. kept the Ptolemaic idea of a small, closed universe with
epicycles
f. the most innovative part of Copernicus’ theory is that it is
based on MATH, not on observation alone
g. not condemned by the Church because he is working in
Poland and he has the good sense to die right after his
work is published
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FACT: In the Middle Ages, Europeans switched from
the Roman numeral system (which is a subtractive system) to the Arabic numeral
system (which is a place number system). This allows you to do complex
mathematical equations very quickly.
4. Tycho Brahe, 1546-1601, Danish astronomer
a. brilliant, moody and missing his nose
b. REALLY like mathematical calculations
c. wrote books and books of astronomical calculations and
charts
d. tries to use his calculations to prove Copernicus wrong,
but does the exact opposite
e. dies because he didn’t go to the bathroom
5. Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630, German astronomer
a. Brahe’s assistant, with him when he dies
b. uses Brahe’s calculations to prove that the earth revolves
around the sun
c. rejects the theory of circular orbits and epicycles
d. develops the Three Laws of Planetary Motion that says
that planetary orbits are elliptical
e. New Astronomy, published 1609, combines Copernicus
with Brahe to produce a perfect, predictable model of the
solar system
f. but, it is still a closed, intimate universe, we still have the
problem of motion and why the heck are the orbits of
planets elliptical? That would have to wait for Newton
6. Galileo Galilei, 1564-1642, Italian astronomer
a. familiar with Copernicus and Kepler
b. develops the Law of Falling Bodies (the rate of
acceleration is constant)
c. with a new Danish invention, the telescope, discovered
mountains on the moon (so not gaseous as widely
believed)
d. observed five moons around Jupiter, independent orbital
system
e. nixes idea of a closed, finite universe
f. neither the earth nor the sun is the center of the universe
g. publishes his theories in Dialogues on the Two Chief
Systems of the World
h. unlike Copernicus, Galileo doesn’t die and he lives in
Rome
i. Catholic Church forces him to recant in 1633 (it apologizes
in 1992)
j. Galileo’s theories and models are mathematically based
ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACT: All physical models of the universe will be
based on mathematics to the present day.
7. At the same time that Kepler and Galileo are looking at the
heavens, a curmudgeon in England is publishing a book. His
name is Francis Bacon, 1561-1626
a. wasn’t a scientist, just liked to criticize
b. Novum Organum published in 1620
c. stated that scientists should abandon traditional methods
of research because of our prejudices
-idols of the tribe, cave, market and theatre
d. instead research should be based on inductive reasoning
and empiricism (hey, isn’t that what Aristotle said?)
e. inductive thinking = make observations then formulate
principles based on your observations
f. this is the basis for the scientific method
observation + experiment = theory (which can be
verified through further experimentation)
Combine Bacon’s scientific method with Galileo’s idea that the universe operates
mathematically and you have paved the way for Newton, physics and the idea of
a mechanistic universe.
8. Issac Newton, 1642-1727, English astronomer, mathematician
and weirdo
a.
b. basis for all modern physics
c. Principia Mathematica, published 1687
-universe is mathematical
-universe is rational and predictable
-don’t need religion, just need math
-GRAVITY is the glue that holds it together
d. Newton’s Law of Gravity is mathematical
e. uses gravity to formulate his three Laws of Motion
-objects at rest stay that way
-equation of force
-equal and opposite reactions to force
f. uses his theory to prove the existence of God
g. because of Newton, absolutist states create science
academies
h. Newton’s view of a rational universe is the basis for the
Enlightenment
D. Other Scientific Breakthroughs
1. Biology
a. microscope
b. Robert Hooke and Antony von Leeuwenhoek, 1632-1723
c. Carolus Linnaeus, 1707-1778, anal-retentive Swedish
biologist
2. Chemistry
a. originally an Islamic science
b. all living processes are chemical in nature
c. Otto von Guericke generates electricity in 1672
3. Medicine
a. science of pathology developed
II. The Enlightenment
A. We have a new idea of a universe without supernatural or religious
forces in play.
1. If the universe is mechanistic, then humans can “improve”
the machine
2. this is what the philosophers of the Enlightenment are
trying to do
3. one of the few historical trends that names itself
4. no real beginning or end
5. not agreed on how to carry out “improvements”
6. they did have some fundamental principles in common
a. universe is rational and can be understood
b. human experience, not authority, is the ultimate
truth
c. scientific models can be applied to the individual,
societies, governments, economies, etc.
d. the world can be improved through reason, logic,
education, i.e. studying the machine
e. belief in Deism
B. Pre-Enlightenment (17th century)
1. Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679, English
a. Leviathan, published 1651
b. idea of the ‘social contract’
2. Rene Descartes, 1596-1650, French
a. invented analytical geometry (thanks a lot)
b. Discourse on Method, published 1637
c. his philosophical system is known as Dualism (or the
Cartesian mind-body split)
3. John Locke, 1632-1704, English
a. rejected Descartes’ dualism in favor of empiricism
b. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690
- “blank slate” theory
c. Two Treatises on Government, 1690
-“social contract” (but differed from Hobbes)
d. these two books are massively influential
e. written shortly after the Glorious Revolution
C. Height of the Enlightenment (18th century)
1. Centered in France around the philosophes
2. They advocate three things
a. progress
b. Deism
c. tolerance (especially religious tolerance)
3. They are concerned with practical reform not abstract philosophy
4. Two most influential of the philosophes are Voltaire and
Rousseau
5. Voltaire, or Francois Marie Arouet, 1694-1788, French
a. influenced by Newton and Locke
b. attacked the Catholic Church
- Jean Calas trial
c. A Treatise on Tolerance, 1763
d. often in trouble with the government
e. Candide, 1759
6. Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778, Swiss
a. how to define “liberty”
b. Discourse on Inequality, 1754
c. Social Contract, 1762
d. also wrote a guide to education, a constitution for Poland,
an analysis of the effect of theatre on public morals, an
opera, a novel (which was a best-seller), and an
autobiography
7. These works were banned in France, so published in the
Netherlands
8. Denis Diderot, chief editor of Encyclopedia
9. Baron de Montesquieu, Spirit of Laws, 1748
a. supported constitutional monarchy
b. government of checks and balances
10. David Hume, The Natural History of Religion, 1755
a. argues for moral relativism
D. Results of the Enlightenment
1. The single most enduring result of the Enlightenment is the
United States of America
2. anti-slavery societies emerge
3. anti-war societies
4. Capitalist economic systems
a. based on Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
5. many historians and philosophers consider the Enlightenment to
be the “birth” of the modern age (which continues to this day)
6. philosophes did not advocate revolution but their writings will
inspire revolutions around the globe
7. the Enlightenment only applied to a small segment of the
population
E. Society during the Enlightenment
1. Upper Class
a. frivolous and superficial
b. yet supported Enlightenment philosophes
2. Middle Class, or Bourgeoisie
a. gaining population
b. create a market for popular culture
c. interest in children
d. concerned with morality
3. Lower Class, peasant or serf
a. quality of life depends on geographical location
b. Northern and Western Europe vs. Eastern Europe
c. status of women
d. place of children
F. Culture during the Enlightenment
1. Drama
a. In France comedies popular
b. In England, Restoration drama
2. The Novel
a. Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
b. Johnathan Swift
3. Visual Arts
a. Roccoco in France
b. Portrait and satire in England
4. Music
a. dominated by Vienna and Mozart
5. Roots of Romanticism
a. Rousseau’s Confessions
b. Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther
c. “mesmerism”