Chapter 17: Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, 1550-1800

Chapter 17:Scientific Revolution and

Enlightenment, 1550-1800

Main Ideas

The Scientific Revolution gave Europeans a new way to view humankind’s place in the universe.

New thinkers, scientists, mathematicians and astronomers began to use reason is order to prove new theories

Background to the Revolution

Medieval scientists, known as “natural philosophers,” focused ancient authorities, especially Aristotle, for their scientific knowledge

– Renaissance ideals caused European scientists to adopt new views and methods

Background to the Revolution

Reasons for the Scientific Revolution– Technical problems

• observation and measurement

– New instruments • telescope and microscope

– Printing Press• Spread ideas quickly and to the masses

JOHANN GUTENBERG

– Inventor of the Printing Press which greatly enhanced communication and literacy across the globe

Background to the RevolutionReasons for the Scientific Revolution (continued)

– study of mathematics• Secrets of nature written in mathematics

• Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and others–developed new theories that became the foundation of the Scientific Revolution

The Popularization of Science in the Age of the Enlightenment. This illustration shows the German prince Frederick Christian visiting his

Academy of Sciences in 1739. Note the many instruments of the new science around the rooms—human skeletons, globes, microscopes, telescopes, and orreries, mechanical models of the solar system.

A Revolution in Astronomygeocentric (Earth is at the center) model of the universe called the Ptolemaic system

– Spheres revolves in circular motion around the Earth.

– The tenth sphere is the “prime mover,” which moves itself and gives motion to the other spheres.

– Beyond this is Heaven, where God and all the saved souls reside.

Ptolemaic Universe

A Revolution in AstronomyNicholas Copernicus contradicted this theory and published his famous work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.

– heliocentric (with the Sun in the center) theory

– he argued that all the planets revolved around the sun, the Moon revolved around Earth, and Earth rotated on its axis.

Copernican Universe

A Revolution in AstronomyJohannes Kepler also helped destroy the Ptolemaic system.

– Used math to confirm that the Sun was at the center of the universe.

Galileo Galilei– “Father of Modern Science”

– Used his telescope to re-confirm that the sun was in fact at the center of the universe

– Also wanted to figure out what planets were made of

A Revolution in AstronomyGalileo’s work began to make Europeans aware of the new view of the universe.

A Revolution in Astronomy

Galileo got into trouble with the Catholic Church, which ordered him to abandon the new system because the Copernican system went against the Church and the Bible.

Isaac Newton– What explains motion in the universe?

– Newton published his views in Principia.

– He defined the three laws of motion in the universe

A Revolution in AstronomyIsaac Newton Continued

– universal law of gravitation: every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity

– Planets traveled in elliptical orbits

Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry

Andreas Vesalius, published in his On the Fabric of the Human Body

Breakthrough in anatomy with drawings of muscles, tendons, etc


William Harvey’s On the Motion of the Heart and Blood – Heart pumps blood (not the liver)– He also showed that the same blood runs

through veins and arteries – blood makes a complete circuit through the

body


Robert Boyle – Chemist whose ideas were based on close

observation and experiment – Boyle’s Law about gases–

the volume of a gas varies with the pressure exerted on it

Women and the Origins of Modern Science

Margaret Cavendish– female scientist– Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy,

said humans, through science, were the masters of nature.

Women and the Origins of Modern Science

In Germany, many women scientists were astronomers

– Maria Winkelmann discovered a comet– Denied further work as an astronomer– Conflicted with ideas of the roles of women at

the time

Descartes and Reason

René Descartes– In his Discourse on Method (1637), says that he

can rationally be sure of his own existence.– he would accept only those things his reason

said were true

–“I think, therefore I am”

father of modern rationalism– reason is the chief source of knowledge

The Scientific Method

During the Scientific Revolution, people were concerned about how they could best understand the physical universe– They created the scientific method– The philosopher Francis Bacon was most

responsible for this method

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observationchange it, discard it, or let it stand as is

an unproven theory

The Scientific Method

Bacon emphasized inductive reasoning– He believed science was to give humankind

new discoveries and the power to serve human purposes by conquering “nature in action.”

– The control and domination of nature became an important concern of science and its accompanying technology

Chapter 17, Section 2The Enlightenment

Main IdeasEighteenth-century thinkers used the ideas of the Scientific Revolution to reexamine all aspects of life.

This would be known as the Enlightenment.

Path to the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement built on the achievements of the Scientific Revolution.

– reason, natural law, hope, and progress

John Lockegreatly influenced Enlightenment thinkers.– born with a mind that is a blank slate and that

knowledge comes to it through the five senses.– society was governed by natural laws

Path to the Enlightenment

– Enlightenment thinkers hoped to discover with the scientific method the laws that everyone should follow to produce the ideal society

Philosophes and Their Ideas

Immanuel Kant summed up the Enlightenment in two Latin words: – sapere aude: dare to know (i.e. have the courage

to think for yourself. )

– The philosophes used reason to overcome obstacles to free thought and social reform.

Philosophes and Their Ideas

philosophe (philosopher) – enlightenment thinkers– Most were writers, professors, economists,

journalists, and social reformers– Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Diderot

Montesquieu

– studied governments to find the natural laws

governing social and political relationships– The Spirit of the Laws– identified three kinds of government: republics,

despotism, and monarchies

Montesquieu and Political Thought

His analysis of the English monarchy is his most lasting contribution– government functioned through a separation of

powers controlled by checks and balances– influenced the American framers of the

Constitution.

Voltaire and the Enlightenment

Voltaire

– Voltaire was best known for his criticism of Christianity and his belief in religious toleration.

– Deism- religious philosophy based on reason and natural law.

– The Encyclopedia spread the ideas of the Enlightenment

Diderot and the EncyclopediaDenis Diderot’s most important contribution to the Enlightenment was the Encyclopedia.

Toward a New Social Science

The Enlightenment’s belief that Newton’s methods of the Scientific Revolution could discover the natural laws of society led to the creation of what we call the social sciences, such as economics and political science.


Adam Smith founded modern economics– if people were free to pursue their economic

self-interest, all society would benefit– laissez-faire – hands off government politics


Smith said the government had only three legitimate functions:

1. protecting society from invasion (army),

2. defending citizens from injustice (police),

3. and maintaining public works like roads and canals that private individuals could not afford.

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Cesare Beccaria On Crimes and Punishments– No excessive brutality

– argued against capital punishment

The Later Enlightenment

A new generation of philosophes emerged by the 1760s.– Jean-Jacques Rousseau

-Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind

– argued that people formed governments and laws to protect their private property, but the government relationship enslaved them.

The Later Enlightenment--Rousseau

he presented the idea of a social contract in which members of society agree to be governed by the general will, which represents what is best for society as a whole– education should nurture, not restrict, children’s

natural instincts– he believed that emotions, as well as reason,

were important to human development

Rights of WomenMary Wollstonecraft is considered the founder of the European and American movement for women’s rights.– She argued that women

were as rational as men and as capable of being responsible free citizens.

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Rights of WomenA Vindication of the Rights of Women

– Power of men over women was equally wrong– women are rational beings, so they should have

the same rights as men–in educational, economic, and political life

Social World of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment ideas were most known among the wealthy and well-read

– Great increase in literacy and books


Enlightenment ideas also spread at the salon


Salons were gatherings in the elegant homes of the wealthy.– The guests took part in conversations, often

about the new philosophical ideas.– Nobles, thinkers, artists, and government

officials attended these salons. Some became very famous.

– The women who hosted them could sway political opinion and influence literary and artistic taste

Religion in the Enlightenment

Most of the philosophes attacked the Christian churches, but most Europeans of the time were very religious

The desire of ordinary Protestants for a greater depth of religious experience led to new religious movements


One new religious movement was Methodism

– John Wesley had a mystical experience in which “the gift of God’s grace” assured him of salvation.


Wesley preached to masses and appealed mostly to lower classes– Caused conversions– Many Methodists helped each other do good

works, which gave to the lower and middle classes a sense of purpose

– Methodism became a separate Protestant group

Chapter 17, Section 3The Impact of the

Enlightenment

Main IdeasEnlightenment beliefs were reflected in the art, music, and

literature of the time.Enlightenment thought impacted the politics of Europe in the eighteenth century.

BachHandelHaydn

Frederick the GreatMaria TheresaCatherine the Great

People to Identify

Mozart

The Arts

The Enlightenment had a large impact on culture– European monarchs tried to emulate

Versailles, but in the Italian baroque style, not the French classical

– They created a new kind of architecture

– By the 1730s, a new artistic style–rococo–had emerged

The Arts

While the baroque style stressed grandeur and power, the rococo style emphasized grace, charm, and gentle action

– It was highly secular, valuing the pursuit of pleasure, happiness, and love

– The greatest rococo painter was Antoine Watteau

The ArtsEnchantment and enthusiasm are also part of rococo, as is evident in the paintings of Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

– His masterpiece is the ceiling of the bishop’s residence at Würzburg, a huge scene representing the four continents

The Arts--Music

The eighteenth century was one of the greatest in history for European music

Enlightenment and Enlightened Absolutism

The philosophes believed in natural rights for all people (i.e. the rights mentioned in the Declaration of Independence).

The philosophes believed that enlightened rulers were to establish and preserve these.– These rulers were to nurture the arts, sciences,

and education, and to enforce the laws fairly over all subjects


Enlightened absolutism is a term used to describe the monarchies that emerged at this time– According to this view, monarchs of this time

tried to govern by Enlightenment principles while retaining royal power.

– We examined three states where philosophes tried to influence rulers to make enlightened reforms: Prussia, Austria, and Russia


Frederick William I and Frederick II made Prussia a European power in the eighteenth century– Frederick William I tried to maintain a highly

efficient bureaucracy, whose values were obedience, honor, and service to the king.

• Nobles who owned large estates were officers in the Prussian army

• They believed in duty, obedience, and sacrifice, and were loyal to the king


Frederick II, or Frederick the Great, was one of Europe’s most cultured kings– He knew and adopted some Enlightenment ideas– He abolished torture, except in treason and

murder cases, and granted limited freedom of speech, limited freedom of the press, and greater religious toleration.

– As a boy…


Austria was major power by the 18th century– Empress Maria Theresa, who came to the throne

in 1740, centralized the Austrian Empire and strengthened the state’s power

– Her successor, Joseph II, was more influenced by the philosophes.

• Abolished serfdom and the death penalty.

• He recognized equality before the law and enacted religious reforms, including toleration

Enlightenment and Enlightened AbsolutismAfter several weak rulers following Peter the Great’s death, Catherine the Great, the German wife of the murdered Peter III, came to the Russian throne– She ruled from 1762 to 1796– She knew the ideas of the Enlightenment and

even invited Diderot to speak in Russia– In the end, she did not adopt Enlightenment

reforms because she needed the support of the Russian nobility



The theory of enlightened absolutism seems questionable and was ultimately unsuccessful– Most of these three governments did not institute

Enlightenment reforms– The decisions the rulers made were ultimately

about the well-being of their states and increasing the state’s power

War of Austrian Succession

The War of the Austrian Succession (1740 to 1748) was fought in Europe, the Far East, and North America– Maria Theresa succeeded her father to the

Austrian throne after his death in 1740– The Prussian king took advantage of having a

woman on the throne and invaded Austria– France allied with Prussia, and Britain allied

with Austria

War of Austrian Succession

In 1748, the War of Austrian Succession ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, and all occupied territories but Silesia were returned to their original owners– Two new rivalries took center stage: France and

Britain over colonial empires and Austria and Prussia over Silesia

– Maria Theresa refused to accept the loss of Silesia

Seven Years WarIn 1756, another worldwide war broke out–in Europe, India, and North America

– The superb Prussian army was able to defeat the French, Austrians, and Russians for time

Seven Years War

Seven Years War

Prussian forces were being worn down, however, and Frederick the Great faced disaster until the czar Peter III withdrew his troops from the war– A stalemate led to peace

In 1763, under the Treaty of Paris, all occupied territories were returned and Austria officially recognized Prussia’s permanent control of Silesia

Seven Years War

The greatest conflicts of the Seven Years’ War took place in North America– The French colonies in North America (Canada

and Louisiana) were thinly populated trading outposts because the French settlers would not move to North America

– The 13 British colonies were thickly populated with more than 1 million people by 1750 and were also were quite prosperous

Seven Years War

The British and French fought in the waterways of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and in the Ohio River valley

The French tried to establish forts in this valley to keep the British settlers from expanding into new territory

Seven Years War

At first the French were winning, but then William Pitt the Elder, Britain’s prime minister, revived Britain’s cause– He focused the British navy against the French

and defeated the smaller, weaker French navy– The British soon scored a series of land

victories in the Great Lakes area and the Ohio River valley

Seven Years War

The French made peace, and the 1763 Treaty of Paris transferred Canada and all lands east of the Mississippi to Britain– Spain, an ally of France, transferred Florida to

British control, and France gave Spain its Louisiana territory

– By 1763, Britain was the world’s greatest colonial power

Chapter 17, Section 4Colonial Empires and the

American Revolution

Chapter 17, Section 4

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Chapter 17: Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, 1550-1800