SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION AND ENLIGHTENMENT Chapter 10
Learning Goals You will be able to describe each person from the scientific revolution and enlightenment and their contributions to the world You will be able to explain how the scientific revolution and the enlightenment led to the Seven Years War and the French and Indian war You will be able to show direct connections between the events in the scientific revolution on our world today.
The Scientific Revolution Following the renaissance and reformation between the 16 th and 18 th centuries, recognition of practical problems were arising that no one was able to solve How much weight and cargo could ships afford to hold? How do we measure the moon s orbit so we can keep track of tides? How do we mathematically calculate percentages and equivalents in a quick manner? A renewed interest in math and science began to brew A series of individuals, each with a significant contribution to math, science, philosophy or art, helped form the scientific revolution
Significant Members of the Revolution Simon Stevin (1585) and John Napier (1614) Stevin and Napier recognized the need for business to perform calculations involving unknown factors. Interest rates; size of a ship and size of cargo; amount of crops needed for growing populations Stevin and Napier, independently but simultaneously, developed the decimal system for counting percentages. To make it easier to calculate unknowns and variables, they perfected new systems of mathematics called algebra, trigonometry, and geometry.
Significant Members of the Revolution Nicolas Copernicus, 1543 Copernicus, using old writings from Aristotle as a guide, created a solar system design that placed the sun, not Earth, in the center. This is called heliocentricism Planets revolved around the sun in circular orbits Johannes Kepler, 1600 Kepler further revised Copernicus work, instead showing that the planets orbited the sun in an ellipse, not a circle Kepler s mathematics were so accurate that for the first time ever astronomers could correctly predict eclipses months ahead of time
Significant Members of the Revolution Galileo Galilei, 1610 Kepler s and Copernicus theories could be mathematically verified. Galileo s observations weren t as simple Using a telescope, Galileo discovered mountains on the moon, moon s around Jupiter, and fire on the sun. Prior to Galileo, stars were believed to be simply a light source, a remnant of heaven. Galileo claimed they were made of substances, just like Earth Humans were not the center of the universe, and God who resided among the stars was no longer in a specific location. Galileo, under fire for previously attacking church precepts (and not in a tactful way) was commissioned by his friend and newly elected Pope, Urban VIII, to publish his beliefs
Significant Members of the Revolution Galileo, once again, forgot about tact. In his book he had two characters arguing geocentricism vs heliocentricism One character, whom Galileo named Simplicio (translated, simpleminded fellow) kept quoting the Pope s documented words on geocentricism Most historians believe Galileo simply was ignorant of the similarities between the Pope s words and Simplicio s. Nevertheless, it was interpreted at the time as Galileo openly mocking the Pope On June 22, 1633, after a trial for heresy, Galileo was found guilty and ordered to house arrest. As the verdict was read he famously reportedly exclaimed eppur si muove. (It still moves). In other words, you can arrest me. Doesn t mean I m wrong. Though he remained in house arrest the rest of his life, he spent his time writing many equations and concepts that would become the foundation for the science of mechanical physics
Significant Members of the Revolution Isaac Newton, b.1642 One of the ideas of science that still had never been explained was motion. The planets move around the sun, but how? While trying to answer the question, Newton famously claimed he was sitting in a garden at his home in Lincolnshire when he noticed an apple fall from a tree. Newton noticed that the apple fell in a straight line to the ground. No matter how high the apple was, it still fell straight to the ground and at approximately the same speed
Significant Members of the Revolution Newton guessed that if gravity was a constant force, and its force was the same throughout the height of the tree, why not higher than the tree? To the clouds? To the moon? Newton wrote the Universal Law of Gravitation Every object in space has gravity (even you) Every object is attracted to the gravity of other objects The larger the object, the stronger the gravity. Newton s ideas helped form a new image of the universe. The universe is a machine. It follows specific rules and performs specific functions. The world is a part of the universe. Therefore, the natural world works as a machine as well.
Significant Members of the Revolution Andreas Vesalius and William Harvey, 16 th Century Many religions believed that bodies must remain intact even after death so that when the final resurrection occurs souls in heaven will have bodies to return to. As such, few people in history had ever studied the human body. Most medical concepts were based on studying animals Vesalius and Harvey were among the first. Vesalius wrote a book containing almost 300 diagrams of the human body made by artists witnessing Visalius dissections (usually of criminals) Harvey mapped the circulation of blood from the heart to the brain and the rest of the body in all the different blood vessels.
Significant Members of the Revolution Maria Winkelmann, 1702 Another famous woman of the revolution, Maria Winkelmann became one of the most famous astronomers of Europe Besides helping her husband with astronomical calculations, she also helped run the telescope at Berlin and discovered a comet Although Maria s husband considered her an equal, the local universities rejected her authority both because she was a woman and because she didn t speak Latin Officially her husband received credit for the comet, but thanks to word of mouth he managed to put the credit on her, even admitting he missed the comet the night before.
Significant Members of the Revolution Margaret Cavendish, 17 th century Cavendish, as most women of her day, was not allowed to study subjects deemed unsuitable for women Cavendish was daring. Her thoughts on philosophy were published under her own name, despite the social stigma. Cavendish challenged the belief that humans were the masters of the world. Instead, she wrote, humans are frail and at the mercy of the natural world. While recognized today as a remarkable philosopher, she was basically ignored for her lifetime
Significant Members of the Revolution Women in the Revolution Why were women so excluded from participation? During the 16 th and 17 th century women were receiving numerous legal and religious rights as citizens. Women were recognized and prized for their ability to run a proper household and raise and educate children These were seen as tremendous duties. These duties would also be neglected if women were to shirk their responsibilities and enter the workforce. Therefore, it was better for the health of a nation and society if women stayed home
Significant Members of the Revolution Rene Descartes, 1637 Rene Descartes was a mathematician who created many important mathematical concepts Exponent notations, law of refraction, and x/y/z cartesian graph And yet Descartes was also a philosopher who struggled for years believing he couldn t prove anything, even his own existence. His sense s might be defective; someone could ve drugged him; A demon may be controlling his thoughts Then he had an epiphany: the fact that he was thinking about the question of existence proved he existed. I think, therefore, I am. Descartes believed that life and truth could only be found through thinking. External truths were forced upon him, and not trustable.
Significant Members of the Revolution Francis Bacon Although recognized as a scientist now, during his life he was seen as anything but. Bacon didn t like how scientists simply attempted to prove things they already believed or wanted to be true. Science should be free from opinion and left entirely to facts Bacon wrote a system of inductive reasoning, which would eventually be adopted as the universal scientific method Start by simply observing facts and details. Once you have significant information, develop a hypothesis. Then carefully organize an experiment to test if your hypothesis is correct.
Significant Members of the Revolution Charles-Louis de Secondat, or baron de Montesquieu In 1748, Montesquieu wrote about different forms of government and what made them work. Montesquieu recognized the importance of a new concept that was forming in England: Separation of Powers Government was divided into a central leader, a group of lawmakers, and a group of individuals to judge them Each group had some ability to overrule the other groups in a system called checks and balances, which is what keeps each system accountable. Montesquieu s observations would be worked into most government charters, including the United States Constitution
Significant Members of the Revolution Voltaire, 1751 Voltaire was a French writer who published over 20,000 articles and documents on religion and its role in government He believed in Deism, which says God created the universe according to the Christian story but then stepped aside. God set up the rules and mechanical properties of the universe, but everything after that has been the natural world functioning completely on its own including humans The universe is the clock, and God is the Clock-maker Voltaire also heavily advocated freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. Neither government nor churches should tell the other what to do or have any authority over each other.
Significant Members of the Revolution Adam Smith, 1776 Adam Smith is regarded as one of the greatest economic minds in history. In The Wealth of Nations, he wrote that government should follow three rules Protect citizens from harm (Army) Defend citizens from injustice (Police) Provide citizens with basic needs (Public Works) Government should leave economy and business entirely to private citizens working with their own ideas and ambitions This form of economics is called capitalism.
Significant Members of the Revolution Mary Wollstonecraft, 18 th century The first real significant push for women s rights in history came from Mary Wollstonecraft s publications in England. In her book A Vindication for the Rights of Women, Wollstonecraft used men s own arguments during the scientific revolution to establish why women should have equal rights to men A government based on a single monarch or parliament had been deemed wrong. So leadership based on a single gender must also be wrong If all human beings are reasonable and work according to natural laws, then women must have equal ability to men
Significant Members of the Revolution John Wesley While the Catholic Church was still going strong in the 18 th century, most protestant churches were losing members. The reason? They were boring. Wesley began to organize church services that included church trips, outdoor meetings with meals, and intense sermons about heaven and hell. Wesley s church, which would eventually become the Methodist church, also promoted social activism, and was one of the first groups to fight against the slave trade.
Significant Members of the Revolution Composers New forms of music and orchestra s were written in the 17 th and 18 th century that would become some of history s most beautiful music Johann Sebastian Bach George Frederic Handel Franz Joseph Haydn Wolfang Amadeus Mozart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuhqgmoskgs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76rrdwelntu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vafm_pdwsri http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lc1lrz5z_s
Impact of the Enlightenment Many of the new enlightenment and revolution policies weren t so great if you were a ruler. Leaders of nations in the 16 th -18 th centuries had to find a balance between not giving up their power but not succombing to a peasant revolt either. Let s look at a few prominent nations and three different ways for how they adapted to the new policies
Prussia The Fredericks (William and Great) of Prussia were reluctant to give in to the revolution because most of their support stemmed from the noble landholders Because of this, he kept the serf/feudalism social structure intact To appease the masses, he did allow a few small reforms Abolish the use of torture except in treason and murder Small amounts of freedom of speech and press The country of Prussia would begin breaking up by the end of the 18 th century
Austria Empress Maria Theresa and her son, Joseph II were willing to decentralize their own power and agree to many of the reforms of the enlightenment They allowed religious freedom and released serfs to run their own businesses They eliminated the death penalty and expanded equal rights to refer to all citizens In doing so, however, Joseph alienated the wealthy nobles and the Catholic church The reforms in Austria hardly stuck
Russia Catherine the Great, Tzar of Russia in 1762, actively worked against the enlightenment reforms To show her support for the Russian nobles, she instead expanded the rights of nobles over their serfs and used her military to squash rebellions Thus, military leaders in Russia and Prussia who opposed the enlightenment remained strong, while the wealthy nation of Austria crumbled This set the stage for the seven years war
Seven Years War In 1740, the King of Prussia invaded Austria. France, a historical enemy of Austria, joined Prussia in the attack Great Britain, not wanting their enemy France to gain any more power in Europe, allied with Austria The Seven Years War would pit these four nations against each other over land and ruling rights, including the colonies of these nations Some of the colonies of Britain and France were over in North America at this time
The French and Indian War Both France and England had colonies set up in North America that ran under very different systems France claimed Canada and, because they focused more on trade then exploration, had made allies with local Indian tribes Britain claimed the 13 colonies, and had never made allies with any Indian nation. Britain s navy was vastly superior. Even though their army was equal to France, Britain blocked any naval ships from resupplying France With the help of General s William Pitt and George Washington, the British easily defeated France, establishing the America s as the world s colonial power If it wasn t for Prussia and Austria s war, the American colonists might never have learned any military tactics