SCIENTIFIC
REVOLUTION AND
ENLIGHTENMENT
Chris Anderson
Randolph-Henry H. S.
• During the Middle Ages science was based
on
Magic
Mystery
What the Ancients had
written
• Most scientific theories were outdated:
• Believed Earth to be flat
• Earth was the center of the universe
• Science began to change in the 1600s
• New technology developed (microscope
and telescope)
Astronomy
• 1.) Nicolaus Copernicus:
• Polish astronomer
• Worked at University of Krakow in 1492
• Believed earth to be round
• Heliocentric view of universe
• Believed the ______________to be center of the
universe
• Never proved his theory
• Since he was Catholic, he did NOT publish his
ideas
Nicolaus Copernicus
• 2.) Johannes Kepler:
• Skilled mathematician
• Used math to prove that the Earth travels
around Sun
• Also proved the other planets travel around
the sun
• Planets use elliptical orbits—not circular
• Although Protestant, still afraid to publish
Johannes Kepler
• 3.) Galileo Galilei:
• 1609: created his telescope
• Discovered moons around Jupiter (Galilean Moons)
• Proves that a body can travel around another body
• 1632: Published his ideas
• Catholic Church did NOT like his book
• He was placed on trial
• He recanted his ideas even though he knew he was
right
• Placed under house arrest for the rest of his life
• Continued to work in science
• Created the Universal Laws of Physics
Galileo Galilei
Philosophy
• 1.) Francis Bacon:
• English Philosopher
• Information not based on proven fact
should be thrown out
• Believed in using the scientific method
Francis Bacon
• 2.) Rene Descartes:
• French Philosopher and mathematician
• Only way to reach truth is through reason
• Invented analytic geometry
• 3.) Sir Isaac Newton:
• Physicist from England (tell story)
• Believed in scientific method
• 1687: wrote Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy
• The book explained his ideas on gravity
and universal gravitation (why the planets
move)
• Invented Calculus
Sir Isaac Newton
Biology, Medicine, Anatomy
• 1.) Andreas Vesalius:
• French medical student
• Illegally dissected dead humans (tell story)
• Contributed a lot to the study of anatomy
Andreas Vesalius
• 2.) William Harvey:
• English doctor
• Discovered how blood circulates through
the body
• 3.) Robert Hooke:
• Englishman
• Discovered the _________________
• Used the microscope to make his discovery
• What type of material did he look at to
make his discovery???
Robert Hooke
Chemistry
• 1.) Robert Boyle:
• Irishman
• Turned chemistry into a pure science (tell
story about alchemy)
• Defined element—any substance that
cannot be broken down into smaller parts
Robert Boyle
• 2.) Joseph Priestly:
• English chemist and preacher
• Studied air
• Discovered Oxygen
• Discovered carbon dioxide (CO2)
• What did his discovery of CO2 help to
develop????
Joseph Priestly
Studies on Oxygen
• 3.) Antoine Lavosier:
• French Chemist
• Studied Oxygen
• Burning objects consume oxygen—Nature
of Combustion
IMPACT OF SCIENCE
• Common people in Europe became
interested in science
• Began conducting scientific experiments at
home
• People began to believe that everything
could be explained by using the scientific
method (law, politics, economics, social
relationships, etc.)
Thomas Hobbes:
• Believed that an absolute monarchy was
the best form of government
• Without an absolute monarch, a nation
would fall apart
• Believed humans are naturally inclined to
become violent and disorderly (discuss)
• Believed people do NOT have the right to
rebel against the government
• 1651: wrote Leviathan about a fictional
place without a government
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke:
• Believed the government should be
based on a contract and order needed to
be established (What type of contract???)
• Believed humans to be naturally moral
and reasonable (Who was right??)
• People have rights to:
• Life
• Liberty
• Property
Ever heard of these before???
• Believed people COULD rebel against their
government if the government took away
their rights
• 1690: wrote Two Treatises of
Government
• Lots of people in the American colonies
read Locke’s book
• Used Locke’s ideas as the basis for the
American Revolution
• Jefferson used Locke’s ideas in the
Declaration of Independence
John Locke
Hugo Grotius
• Dutch jurist
• Wanted international law to be based on
natural law
William Penn
• Founded the Quaker Colony in
Pennsylvania
• Pacifism
Deism
• Religious philosophy that says no one
religious philosophy is true
• Do not believe in organized religion
• Very popular in America and Europe
• Most of America’s founding fathers where
deist
TRIUMPH OF REASON
Age of Enlightenment
• Occurred during the late 17th and 18th
centuries
• People see the world as they have never
seen it before
• Classification of animals, insects, and
plants
• See the universe as a machine with fixed
laws
Philosophes (Philosophers)
• Thinkers of the Enlightenment
• Believe in Locke’s and Newton’s ideas
• Dislike superstition
• Like freedom of speech and people’s right
to liberty
• Wrote lots of books
• France—active center for the
Enlightenment
• Salons—places where thinkers would
gather to share ideas
• Madame de Pompadour—famous French
lady who ran a popular salon in Paris
Madame de Pompadour
Encyclopedie
• The most important accomplishment of the
Enlightenment
• Published in 1751
• 28 volumes about everything known in the
world (3000 pages long)
• Started as a French translation of an
English _____________________
• Denis Diderot—editor of Encyclopedie
• Goes to prison defending the work
Denis Diderot
Montesquieu (Charles-Louis de
Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu)
• Helped Diderot with the Encyclopedie
• 1748: wrote Spirit of Laws
• Liked England’s government
• Believed in 3 branches of government
equally sharing power
• 1.) Legislative
• 2.) Executive
• 3.) Judicial
Ever heard of these???
• Believed in Individual rights
• His ideas are present in the U. S.
Constitution
Montesquieu
Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet)
• French writer and deist
• Most famous work=Candid
• Believed in separation of Church and State
• Served 2 prison terms in the Bastille (tell
story)
Voltaire
Enlightened Despots
• Many monarchs attempted to use
Enlightenment ideas in their nations
• Trying to promote industry, agriculture,
culture, and education
• 1.) Frederick II (Prussia)
• Abolished torture
• Created elementary schools (Why????)
• 2.) Maria Theresa (Austria)
• Wanted to free the serfs, but did not
• Created elementary schools
• 3.) Joseph II (Austria)
• Maria’s son
• Abolished serfdom
• Equal tax for all
• Freedom of press
All his reforms fail
because the Church and
nobles force him to
repeal all of the reforms.
WHY??
Art/Music/Literature
• Enlightenment ideas will affect the arts
• Palaces/museums constructed
• Artists created works that were calm and
rational
• Works appeal to the mind, not the eye
• Music was also transformed
• Music created for pleasure, not the Church
• Composers stressed balance, contrast, and
refined emotion
• 2 new inventions—piano and violin
Bach, Toccata and
Fugue in D minor,
organ - YouTube
Other Views
• Not all people agreed with the
Enlightenment
• Thought it was too rational—not enough
emotion
• 1.) Jean-Jacques Rousseau:
• Criticized the Enlightenment
• Unhappy guy
• Had physical/mental problems
• Believed most people were naturally good
• Civilization (cities) made people bad
• Said all people should go live in the country
and become closer to nature
• Believe in Locke’s ideas (power resting with
the people)
Rousseau
• 2.) Immanuel Kant:
• Metaphysics—philosophy that deals with
universal, spiritual, and eternal questions—
all are real even though science cannot
explain them
• 1781: wrote Critique of Pure Reason
• Said religion, beauty, and morality were
real even though they could not be
explained by science
Immanuel Kant
• 3.) Count von Zinzendorf:
• Created the Moravian Brethren
• Stressed the emotional and mystical side of
Christianity (miracles)
• 4.) John Wesley:
• Created Methodism (Methodist Church)
• Stresses the value of the personal religious
experience
• Eventually, the Enlightenment will be
replaced by Romanticism
• A new movement that stresses emotion
and the individual