Compare And Contrast The Enlightenment And The Scientific Revolution

Was the Scientific Revolution a revolution or a conflict? Introductory paragraph: Why is the Scientific Revolution a revolution and not a conflict? The Scientific Revolution was a time period that saw many new scientific discoveries and improvements.

“God, who has given the world to men in common, has also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience” (Locke, 35). The Scientific Revolution concentrated on understanding the physical world through astronomical and mathematical calculations, or testable knowledge. The Enlightenment focused more on “Spreading of faith in reason and in universal rights and laws” (Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 535). While the Scientific Revolution preceded the Enlightenment, both time periods sought to limit and challenge the power of the Church, through the spread of science, reason and intellect, and political philosophies.

During the seventeenth century, many of Europe’s diverse and numerous countries were going through countless political, economic, and cultural transformations. The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment were two of the greatest, most important changes of the early modern era which greatly altered the course of history in most of Europe. People were starting to question and challenge widely accepted beliefs and applying approaches to knowledge rooted in human reason to the physical universe and human affairs. The study of history often focuses on these events and its effects on Europe, excluding or ignoring its effects on places outside of Europe. The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment both sparked interests in science in China and

The Scientific Revolution occurred roughly between 1550 and 1700. Some people also refer to the time period to be between the lives of Nicholas Copernicus and Issac Newton, to state who the revolution started with and who it ended with (Hatch). It doesn't mean there aren't changes to our scientific processes today, this was just a time period in our history that has recorded information of large changes happening often. The changes were very large and many people were against the views of the men who made the changes/discoveries. Since people put their religion first, the sudden views that made God nonexistent were immediately ignored by citizens and courts ordered many scientists to stay in their homes at all times.

The Scientific Revolution showed that a rise in observations and conclusions became an acceptable source of knowledge and truth, where it had been less so in earlier

However, this shows change in the way that the people are finally questioning what the church teaches, rather than following blindly. Ultimately, the Scientific Revolution was a time of change in the way that people saw the material

Impact of the Scientific Revolution on the Enlightenment The Scientific Revolution as its name says was a revolution in science developed by different figures that shared their ideas and discoveries that would change forever the way humans perceive the world. All of these would influence the Age of the Enlightenment, an age where people started to think individually and differently. During the Age of the Scientific Revolution, scientists such as Isaac Newton shared inventions and discoveries with the world. Newton developed the Scientific Method that not only helped as a process for new findings, but also opened the mind of many thinkers whom started to apply reason to everything, a method that would change the world and define and start

When the renaissance emerged from the middle ages, it brought new ideas of thought to the surface. Individuals like Leonardo Da Vinci proposed that to achieve a fuller understanding of God and the universe one must understand the natural laws and mathematics that govern it. During the 16th and 17th century in Europe, religion and politics affected the Scientific Revolution because there was no separation of the two in science, this is why the Church restricted scientific progress and politics pushed for scientific improvements for personal gain. Up until this point, religious scripture was undisputed.

In Steven Shapin’s book, The Scientific Revolution, he described the massive scientific changes that occurred from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries. Shapin utilizes the scientists and their findings to demonstrate the changes that affected Western civilization. He describes his theory of the Scientific Revolution as he proves that the world has always had scientific advances. Steven Shapin states his thesis which influenced the modern world, that the Scientific Revolution did not happen during a single time period through the use of the three essential questions: What was known, How was it known, and What was the Knowledge for.

The scientific revolution is important because it brings to light two fundamental ideas “observation and evidence”, this forced man to compare the physical traits of human forms, this brought about the differentiation between blacks and whites. According to West philosophy in collaboration with science helped bring theory to reality. Philosophers Bacon and Descartes believed that philosophy brought a new standard of knowledge and that observation and evidence were at the center of the scientific method (West pg. 52). The classical revival of the Greco ideas of beauty that was used to measure what is considered beauty. In J.J Winckelmann’s “History of Ancient Art”.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening encouraged Americans and colonists to question the validity of those that held powerful positions, thus causing conflict. The Great Awakening had a major impact on different religious associations. Although there were certain denominations that were focused on more than others, there was still strife between the rationalists and the evangelists. During this time people had doubts about the relationship between the church and state because of the fear that the government would interfere with religion. The Enlightenment on the other hand was not an attempt at overthrowing religion, however it was lenient to multiple types of religious beliefs. Colonists were generally more accepting during this time because a wide

The scientific revolution made a vast impact on everyday lives, it caused computers, phones, and other items to be invented. This revolution has caused many conflicts, and with these conflicts it had changed the way people lived and made many people question life. The revolution had made many benefits for people and there were also some people that were harmed during this time. The scientific revolution had many different actions that caused wonderful objects to be invented and allowed people to know more about the world. Different actions were done to create the scientific revolution similar to when the societies developed conflicts, such as when Copernicus made the solar system, how the conflicts changed the societies by the church going against people, the people who experience harmed such as Galileo, and the people who benefitted from the change such as other boys.

Enlightenment was a concept that inspired a new way of thinking of the people. In the newly formed United States of America, enlightenment shaped the way the new government was run. Scientific reasoning was applied to politics, religion, and science. Enlightenment saved music, art, and literature programs in colleges. Enlightenment in Europe led to drastically altered views on philosophy, politics, and communications. While enlightenment was the same revolution in thinking around the world, the ideas it brought were not always the same. For example, French enlightenment had different approaches to thinking than American enlightenment. Because of this, the two countries new governments were run on different ideologies.

(1) “The movement known as the Enlightenment included writers living at different times in carious countries. Its early exponents, the philosophes, popularized the rationalism and scientific ideas of the 17th century. They exposed contemporary social and political abuses and argued that reform was necessary and possible.” (The Heritage of World Civilizations). This led to tremendous rethinking of religious and moral matters as well as scientific theory.

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Enlightenment both desired to improve European society, however the level of religious tolerance during the Glorious Revolution differed from the Enlightenment. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the Enlightenment both desired to improve European society’s disposition to inherit natural rights. The level of religious tolerance during the Glorious Revolution, which favored Protestant beliefs over Catholicism, differed from the Enlightenment.