Study Guide: Exploration, Scientific Revolution, & Enlightenment
People: Name the contribution/teaching/philosophy of the following people:
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Ptolemy – the early Greek thinker that influenced the Scientific Revolution the most
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Galileo – the first person to use a telescope to study the sky
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Copernicus – discovered that the sun was the center of the universe; heliocentric model
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Newton – proved the laws of motion and published Principia Mathematica
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Kepler – discovered that the planets move in elliptical, oval, orbits around the sun
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Bacon & Descartes – developed the scientific method
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Henry the Navigator – created a Portuguese school of navigation; sponsored many voyages
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Vasco da Gama – sailed around the southern tip of Africa; found a direct route to India
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Columbus – attempted to sail west across the Atlantic to get to China
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Magellan – first to circumnavigate the globe
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Sir Francis Drake – English privateer; stole from the Spanish; second to circumnavigate the globe
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Locke – taught that people were born with natural rights; life, liberty, property
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Voltaire – believed people had the right to say what they want; separation of church and government;
and no censorship
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Montesquieu – stated that government should be divided into separate branches
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Rousseau – taught the idea of popular sovereignty and a “social contract”
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Diderot – edited the encyclopedia
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Adam Smith – father of modern economics
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Mary Wollstonecraft – English writer that claimed that women should have the same rights as men
Define the following:
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Circumnavigate – to go all the way around the globe
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Columbian Exchange – the transfer of plants, animals, and ideas from the Old World to the New
World
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Mercantilism – system in which a government controls all economic activity in its country and its
colonies to make its government stronger and richer
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Salon – a place to meet and discuss new ideas during the Enlightenment
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Divine right – the belief that God gave you the right to rule
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Scientific method – the step-by-step process used to perform experiments & other scientific research
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Spanish Armada – the large naval fleet of Spain
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Market economy – where individuals decide what goods to buy and sell
Multiple Choice questions:
1. What fears did church officials have about the new scientific claims that were being made
known? Church officials feared that science might lead to people to doubt key elements of their faith,
undermining the church’s influence.
2. How did the church respond to Galileo’s scientific claims? They put him under house arrest and
tortured him.
3. What discoveries did Galileo make while studying outer space? Phases of Venus, moons of Jupiter,
the Moon was covered in craters, sunspots
4. What did people think was the center of the universe for nearly 2000 years? The Earth
5. What early Greek thinker influenced the Scientific Revolution the most? Ptolemy
6. According to the policy of mercantilism, what was the main purpose of the colonies? To help the
ruling country have a favorable balance of trade
7. What event was most responsible for the Scientific Revolution? The Renaissance
8. The period of history known as the Enlightenment, grew out of what 4 eras? Greek and Roman
philosophers, Christianity, Renaissance and Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution
9.What view did the political thinkers of the Enlightenment share with the scientists of the
Scientific Revolution? a belief in reason
10. Enlightened despots believed in what new ways of running their country? They tried to make
life better for the commoners and believed they could make the country stronger if the commoners were
happier.
11. What earlier document in English history contained the idea that a king’s rule is limited?
Magna Carta
12. In what “world” did horses originate? New World
13. Name 3 plants that came from the New World. Maize, cocoa, and tomatoes
14. Which Enlightenment thinker had the greatest impact on the United States Constitution?
Montesquieu
15. What European ruler would be considered an enlightened despot? Catherine the Great of
Russia