Chapter 29 Scientific Revolution and the Enlightened Aftermath

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Chapter 29Scientific Revolution and the
Enlightened Aftermath
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Scientific Revolution of the Seventeenth Century

• Scientific method new style of examination
• Careful observation and systematic
  experimentation
• Used to achieve new and verified knowledge
• Rene Descartes
• Separated material from non-material universe
• Material world could be understood through
  mathematics
• Deductive reasoning go from a general law to a
  particular example

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Francis Bacon

• Most ideas that explain nature have not yet been
  discovered
• Looked forward to better, more understood world
• Inductive reasoning observe phenomenon without
  any preconceived laws or explanations
• Empirical method gather data based on five
  senses, then form generalization

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Background of the Scientific Revolution

• Medieval science was not as laughable as once
  thought
• Its real problem was exaggerated reliance on
  authority rather than evidence
• Scholars accumulated evidence on nature,
  geography
• Rapid advance in mathematics became useful for
  exploring theories as well as counting
• New instruments invented scales, gauges,
  microscopes etc.

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Progress of Scientific Knowledge

• Copernicus Revolution of the heavenly Bodies
• Criticized geocentric universe as too complex
• Heliocentrism believed Earth revolved around
  fixed sun
• Catholicism, Protestantism both condemned his
  theory
• Brahe and Kepler
• Brahe measured planet rotations
• Kepler Three Laws of Celestial Mechanics
  showed planets moved in ellipses

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Galileo and Newton

• Galileo
• His discoveries strongly supported Copernicus
• Theories forced Church to reconsider their
  condemnation of Copernicus
• Newton
• Was looking for explanation of movement
• Discovered formula of law of gravitation
• Principia Mathematica most influential book on
  science in 17th century
• Proposed new universe in which every part played
  particular role

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Religion and Science in the 17th Century

• Church rejection
• Saw science as rejecting Scripture, downgrading
  Creation
• Galileo threatened with imprisonment if he did
  not retract theory
• Most scientists thought themselves good
  Christians
• Most ordinary people were unmoved by new science
• But Churchs truth was being challenged by
  science
• Strong appeal to educated people (not the masses)
• Science came to be seen as alternative to
  theology
• Spinoza great questioner, rejected personal
  deity

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Science of Man

• Math and science had been in university
  curriculum, but low prestige
• Relationship between science and philosophy was
  undergoing change
• Philosophy not regarded as worthy anymore
• New emphasis on science as useful to humans
• Other phenomena were in second place
• New idea that phenomena such as creativity,
  imagination, ethics, political behavior could be
  measured
• Science of Man social science

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The Enlightenment

• Thought that social sciences could be examined
  just like natural sciences
• Ways of viewing physical world now applied to
  social, political, moral aspects
• Formative figures and basic ideas
• Newton
• Insisted on rational lawful principles in
  examining physical nature
• Human society, as part of nature, can also be
  rational
• Locke
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding mind is
  blank tablet until experience writes on it
• Humans must take charge of their future, can
  perfect themselves

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The Enlightenment

• Faith in perfectability is distinguishing
  innovation of the Enlightenment
• Progress is reachable and real
• Must learn from the past
• Reformers took harsh view of Catholic Church
  saw it as parasite
• Reformers believed in education as the salvation
  of humankind

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Philosophes and Their Ideals

• Philosophes
• Men and women, scientists and philosophers
  committed to reform
• United in their desire for progress
• Area
• Paris was center of the Enlightenment
• Network of clubs, correspondence
• Less impact in eastern Europe
• Period of activity corresponded with French
  Revolution
• Difficult to find common denominators in ideas of
  the philosophes

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The Philosophes

• They argued amongst themselves
• Got their message out to increasingly literate
  audience
• Common goals
• Balance of governmental power Spirit of the
  Laws
• Constitutional limitation of monarchic power
  Voltaire
• Freedom of conscience
• Equality before the law (but did not mean they
  believed in democracy)
• State supervised mandatory education
• Abolition of most forms of censorship

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Adam Smith and Economic Thought

• Outstanding figure in 18th century economic
  thought
• Wealth of Nations gospel of free trade, free
  markets
• Laissez faire is a simplification
• Father of free enterprise, criticized
  mercantilism for operating to disadvantage of the
  consumer

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Educational Theory and Popularization of knowledge

• Rousseau
• Influential in pedagogy and educational
  philosophy
• Little influence in his lifetime, more popular in
  19th century
• Encyclopedie of Diderot
• Upper class very interested in collecting
  knowledge
• Contributors included many outstanding
  intellectuals, often controversial
• Sold over 15,000 copies (very unusual)

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Ideals and Audiences

• Ideals of the Enlightenment reason, liberty,
  happiness
• Reason key word, humans highest gift
• Liberty personal freedom to do, say anything not
  harming another
• Happiness accessible here and now
• Progress inevitable improvement
• Audience of the philosophes
• Urban elite, not for masses
• No attempt to get ideas to masses they were
  illiterate, traditionalist
• No sympathy for occasional call to violence

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Discussion Questions

• In the 18th century, the Scientific Revolution
  completely changed science forever. Its impact
  was enormous, even if the ideas did not directly
  affect most of the population for some time. Can
  you see a link between such modern inventions as
  the computer and the space shuttle and the
  discoveries of the Scientific Revolution?
  Compare the impact of the Scientific Revolution
  and the invention of the computer.
• The philosophes pushed for political reform,
  emphasizing such concepts as legal equality and
  popular sovereignty, but at the same time they
  were not in favor of political democracy per se.
  Why not? What were they afraid of? Does their
  ambivalence make them hypocrites? Why/why not?