The Scientific Revolution: The Origins Of Enlightenment

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 Elizabethan Period was the age of the Renaissance, of new ideas and new thinking” (Alchin). It was a time of many advances in a large variety of fields. Some of the most notorious advances during this time were in the field of science. Overall, the most well-known revolutions in science of the Elizabethan Era are attributed to the Scientific Revolution, which brought about many changes, especially in astronomy, physics, and mathematics, and innovations, which had a strong impact on the way of life during this time.

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. "In the Middle Ages, many

During the 16th and 17th century areas that were forbidden before began to change. These were areas were humans were only entitled to know what God wanted to reveal, otherwise they were inaccessible or forbidden. The limits on the knowledge humans were able to possess became more accessible during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Reformation shows the decline of the Catholic Church and the rise of questioning authority leading to the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution showed that observations and conclusions became an acceptable source of knowledge and truth, where it had been less so in earlier times.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth century, many scientists had developed a new perspective on the world around them. Scientists such as Galileo and Copernicus envisioned a world where natural phenomenons could be proved through experimentation. Furthermore, the work of scientists during this time period were affected by the approval of political figures, the support from influential members of the church, and social factors that influenced the development and acceptance of new theories.

The Enlightenment was a movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It was a time period where people came up with ideas of freedom. The direct meaning of the Enlightenment was to focus on equality and independence. There were in total 10 philosophers who expanded after one another. These thinkers valued reason, religious tolerance, science, and what they call “Natural Rights”. The three main thinkers I decided to choose were Thomas Jefferson, Sir Isaac Newton, and John Locke.

The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government. These new ideas played as a catalyst to acts of resistance, or in a broader retrospect, the French Revolution.

In conclusion, the Enlightenment was vital to the American Revolution and the creation of American Government. The Enlightenment beliefs that influenced the American Revolution were natural rights, the social contract, and the right to overthrow the government if the social contract was violated. The Enlightenment beliefs that aided to the creation of the American government were separation of powers, checks and balances, and limited government. As stated before, without the Enlightenment there would not have been a revolution, resulting in no American Government. The Enlightenment’s influence on the creation of America is irrefutable. Although there are more beliefs and ideas that came from the Enlightenment that have influenced America, the

The Enlightenment, also known as the “Age of Reason,” occurred in the eighteenth century and was a period in which ideas concerning God, nature, reason and humanity were combined, and these ideas instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. The Enlightenment was crucial in determining aspects in terms of politics, government, and religion. Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Charles Montesquieu influenced the Founding Fathers and their ideas were found in the Declaration of Independence.

During the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, including human anatomy transformed the views of society about nature. There was many different methods that sparked changes and many conflicts happening in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century. The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment caused sparks and mostly conflict but changed history for sure.

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

“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.

"Have the courage to use your own understanding" is probably the best-known quotation by Immanuel Kant (Kant 58). He refers to the Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, which was a major historical movement of the eighteenth century. The era was characterized by significant social and intellectual developments which led to several shifts in people’s way of thinking. Moreover, the era was accompanied by major scientific research and discovery. In her novel “Frankenstein’’ ,which was first published in 1818, Mary Shelley addresses numerous ideas of the movement which are embodied by the main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his monster. Furthermore, Shelley examines the relation that Frankenstein and his monster have towards relevant motifs of Enlightenment such as science, religion, and humanity.

1. Before the Scientific Revolution (around the 1500s), multiple scholars/practitioners involved themselves in aspects of what, when put together, came to form science. One of the most important aspects of science at the time, called natural philosophy, was the study of the universe’s nature and purpose, and how it formed/functioned. Medieval

The Scientific revolution of the fifteenth century was one of the crucial reasons for the decline of the Roman Catholic Empire and the development of Europe. The scientific revolution refers to the extensive research done on the physical nature of the world. The revolution gave birth to the modern scientific