MODERN WORLD HISTORY:
Chapter 6 Notes Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
MODERN WORLD HISTORY:
Chapter 6 Notes Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
Items in boldface are from lecture only.
6-1: Scientific Revolution
3 elements of scientific thought in the Middle Ages: Magic, mysticism, and ancient writings
- Mysticism: doctrine of immediate spiritual intuition of truths from extraordinary means.
* Something you can't easily explain - you just know it.
basis for scholars’ ideas: Theories proposed almost 1,000 years earlier by ancient Greek philosophers.
3 great ancient thinkers: Aristotle, Ptolemy, and Galen
Geocentric universe: The belief that the Earth was the center of the universe and all the planets revolved around it.
- Catholic Church doctrine regarding the universe: God created the universe to serve people, so the people's home (Earth) had
to be at the center of the universe.
2 breakthroughs for Western thought: New technology combined with innovative approaches to seeking knowledge.
Nicolaus Copernicus: Polish astronomer who believe that the earth was round and that it rotated on its axis as it revolved around the sun.
- University of Krakow: Where Copernicus started his scientific career in 1492. The same year Columbus sailed to the New World.
- how he was like Columbus: He began questioning age-old beliefs, and superstitions in a time when few people dared to question anything. Through
his research he became sure that the existing ideas on the universe were wrong. He devised the heliocentric theory….
even though he knew he was going against Church teachings.
- Heliocentric Theory: Ancient and medieval belief that our universe was one in which the planets revolve around the Sun.
* 3 Parts of theory:
1.) Earth is round.
2.) The earth spins on an axis.
3.) The Earth revolves around the sun.
- Why were his ideas considered dangerous? Disputing or questioning the Church’s views could mean that you would have to face the Catholic Church…
or the Inquisition.
* 3 ways the Catholic Church dealt with heretics: Persecution, excommunication, or burning at the stake.
- publication of his ideas: He kept his research private without publication during his lifetime (30 years of work). His friends, who realized just
how important his ideas were, helped him publish his findings just before his death. That way the Church would not be able
to persecute him.
Johannes Kepler: German astronomer who used mathematical formulas to prove that although the sun stays in place, the planets move in oval paths. He also
found that planets do not always travel at the same speed, but move faster as they approach the sun and slower as they move away from it.
- reversal on the Copernican Theory: He believed that the planets revolved around the sun in ellipses (.) not circles
- hypotheses: a solution proposed to explain a set of facts, which can be tested.
- 2 Copernican hypotheses he believed:
- reason Copernicus could not prove his theories: The mathematics necessary to prove his theories was available at this time
- 3 contributions:
1.) He proved the sun stayed in its place and the planets move in ellipses, not circles around the sun.
2.) Planets do not always travel at the same speed.
3.) The planets move faster as they approach the sun, and slower as they move away from it
* ellipses: an oval, not round, closed curve.
- reason he did not fear the Catholic Church: He was a Protestant- he didn't care what the Catholic Church thought?
Galileo Galilei: Italian mathematician and astronomer who is best known for his theories about the nature of motion. He is known as the “father of the scientific method.” He built his own telescope in 1609, published his ideas in 1632, and was called to stand trial before the Church for publishing ideas that were contrary to the Church’s stand. Under the threat of excommunication and death, he recanted many of his ideas.
- “Father of the Scientific Method”: Galileo's "nickname". He came up with the 1st step: observation
- problem with the Catholic Church: He was Catholic so he faced great opposition from Church leaders.
- 1609: Galileo built his own telescope to observe the night skies.
* his telescope: It was major improvement of Hans Lippershey's
- 4 discoveries:
1.) Discovered moons circling planet which convinced him that..
2.) The Copernican theory about the earth revolving around the sun was correct.
3.) Moons revolved around Jupiter, not all heavenly bodies revolve around the Earth.
4.) It was possible some (or all) planets did revolve around the sun.
- 1632: He published his ideas in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems - Ptolemaic and Copernican. This book was approved by
Catholic Church censors, but due to Jesuit research, now they had changed their mind. Now they felt that theses ideas would harm Catholic
beliefs. (He had been warned 16 years earlier not to teach Copernican ideas since they contradicted the Church's position on the universe.
- action of the Catholic Church: The Church decided to prosecute Galileo for ignoring the previous banning of the teaching of the Copernican theory.
- Pope Urban VIII: Demanded that Galileo to stand trial in Rome for heresy.
* his threats: Torture and death
- recant: (to take back) Galileo was forced to recant may of his statements and publicly state that he had gone too far and was wrong.
- after the trial: Galileo continued his work. As he experimented with the motion of objects on Earth, he helped to establish the universal laws of physics.
- law of inertia: An object remains at rest or in a straight-line motion unless acted upon by an external force.
- pendulum: He helped to advance the application as a time controller in clocks.
Francis Bacon: an English philosopher who claimed that ideas based solely on tradition or unproven facts should be disregarded completely. He helped
develop what is now the scientific method.
- truth: resulted only from a thorough investigation of evidence.
- scientific method: The way we find scientific truth.
* 4 steps:
1.) a careful observation of facts
2.) find a hypothesis to explain the observations
3.) experiment to test the hypothesis under all possible conditions and in every way
4.) find the conclusion which either proves or disproves your theory.
* scientific truth: Is not assumed - it is deducted from observations, and a series of thorough experiments. It can be replicated.
Rene Descartes: French philosopher and mathematician who believed that truth must be reached through reason. The inventor of analytic geometry, he
saw mathematics as the perfect model for clear and certain knowledge. In 1637, he published, Discourse on Method, to explain his philosophy.
He coined the phrase, “I think, therefore I am.”
- belief: Truth must be reached through reason
- invention: Analytical Geometry
- his vision of mathematics: The perfect model for clear and certain knowledge
- Discourse on Method: his book to explain his philosophy.
* 1637: Published it Discourse on Method
* topic: His philosophy on mathematics.. and other things.
* “ I think, therefore I am.”: Descartes’ quotation on what he believed was the one un-shakable and self-evident truth. He began his search
for knowledge by doubting everything except for his very existence.
+ meaning: He began his search for knowledge by doubting everything except for his very existence. That was the only thing he was
sure was “true.”
Isaac Newton: English scientist and mathematician who published his theories on gravity and scientific concepts. He also developed calculus to prove his
theories, and is considered one of the most influential figures in modern science.
- quote (in text): “Asking the correct question is half the problem. Once the question if formulated there remains to be found only proof…”
* meaning: Have to be on the right track to find the truth of
anything.
- “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”: A well-known
Newton response when asked the question, “How did you invent all of these things?”
* meaning: He just built upon what other scientists had done before him. He felt that they were the real heroes. He felt he
just took their ideas a step farther. He felt he could not have accomplished what he did if it were not for the people
who came before him.
- Cambridge University: He was a below average student – a real loner. He didn’t feel like he
belonged there and hated any subject that wasn’t math. He actually flunked out
and went home to his family’s dairy farm, but one of his professors recognized his
mathematical genius and tutored him on advanced math. This convinced him to
stick with college even though he would have to pass the general education
requirements he despised.
- 1665: A plague (The Great Plague of London – like the Black Death… but not as deadly) outbreak closed the university and forced him to return to
his family farm
- Legend of Newton’s apple: While sitting under in his garden, Newton watched an apple fall to the ground. The apple’s fall led him to the idea of
gravity – obviously some force had to be pulling things to the earth.
* gravity: Gravity is a force of attraction between all matter. It is the weakest known force in nature, but it still manages to hold galaxies
and the solar system together.
- 1687: He published his theories about gravity and other scientific concepts in his book.
* Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy: In it he offered a new understanding of Copernicus, Galileo, & Kepler. It also stated
his universal theory of gravitation, explaining why the planets move as they do.
+ Principia: the other name for his book... the more common name.
+ universal theory of gravitation: The force of gravity not only prevents objects from flying off the revolving Earth, but it also holds
the entire solar system together by keeping the sun and the planets in proper orbit.
+ calculus: A system of mathematics (created by Newton to prove his theory) that calculates changing forces or quantity.
- effect: Newton’s work greatly influenced the thinking of his own age and all later scientific
thought. It suggested that precise mathematical formulas could be used to describe
an orderly world and universe.
CONNECTIONS – SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Effervescent waters: Scientists in Europe and the U.S. attempted to reproduce these effervescent waters from bubbling springs scattered throughout Europe. Mineral water found in natural springs. Bathing in natural springs had long been considered a healthy thing to do, and mineral water was said to have curative powers. Scientists soon discovered that gas carbon dioxide was behind the bubbles in natural mineral water.
1775: The French chemist named Antoine Lavoisier identified the substance as carbon dioxide.
Antoine Lavoisier: Chemist who discovered carbon dioxide.
Thomas Henry: English chemist described how to make artificial carbonated waters commercially
in 1782.
- discovery: artificial carbonated waters
** The first marketed soft drinks (non-carbonated) appeared in the 1600s. They were made from water and lemon juice sweetened with
honey – lemonade.
- 4 places manufactured: London, Paris, Dublin, and Geneva
The drinking of either natural or artificial mineral water was considered a healthy practice. American pharmacists, who were selling most of the mineral waters, started to add medicinal and other flavorful herbs to the unflavored beverages.
“soft drinks”: beverages created in the U.S. and originally sold in drugstores. In 1798, the term "soda water" first coined.
- original purpose: Syrupy tonics for medicinal purposes.
1800’s: When it became popular to combine those tonics with carbonated water (and sugar).
- bottled colas: appeared on the market in the late 1800s.
carbonation as a preservative: They found out that it prevents spoilage (by accident).
Jacob Schweppe: Jeweler in Geneva, marketed artificially carbonated water in 1794. Later he started a carbonated beverage business in London.
John Pemberton: Atlanta pharmacist, who became the inventor of Coca Cola in May, 1886.
TRIVIA: Pemberton concocted the Coca Cola formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard. The name was a suggestion given by John Pemberton's bookkeeper Frank Robinson. Being a bookkeeper, Frank Robinson also had excellent penmanship. It was he who first scripted "Coca Cola" into the flowing letters which has become the famous logo of today. The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expanses, so the first year of sales were a loss. Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut. By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America's most popular fountain drinks.
Claudius Galen: ancient Roman “doctor” who had written most of the information on anatomy.
Lived around 500 A.D.
- reason for no autopsies: Roman law forbade cutting into a human body… dead or alive.
- way he formulated his ideas on human anatomy: By dissection dogs and apes.
- 3 anatomical discoveries:
1.) Believed the existence of blood with in the arteries
2.) Believed human beings have 13 pairs of ribs (we have 12)
3.) Believed the liver digested the food and processed it into the blood
* his ideas that were wrong: #2 and 3 above.
French lawmakers in the 1500’s: Also considered dissecting human bodies wrong, hence it was illegal. Christianity taught that cutting into a human body was
a desecration of something God had made.
Andreas Vesalius: Young medical student in Paris (the only place you could study medicine) who wanted to study human anatomy based on HUMANS.
- how he proved Galen wrong: He made it clear that because Galen’s views were based on dissected dogs and apes, he beliefs about human
anatomy couldn’t be accepted as truth. By dissecting human bodies, Vesalius made ground-breaking discoveries in
anatomy.
- use of resurrections: Grave robbers, who paid big money to rob graves soon after a funeral. They brought the bodies to Vesalius and he dissected
they… and sometimes had them returned to the grave.
- 1543: He published his work in The Structure of the Human Body
* The Structure of the Human Body: the published findings of Vesalius’ discoveries in human anatomy.
^Use: Became the ONLY anatomy textbook for the next 170 years.
William Harvey: English physician who discovered that blood circulates throughout the body, and disproved many of Galen's theories. His work astonished
the world who had been basing their ideas on human anatomy and physiology on the work of Galen.
Robert Hooke: English scientist who discovered the cell through his invention of the microscope. He called them "cells" because they reminded him of
a honeycomb.
Robert Boyle: scientist who was primarily responsible for establishing chemistry as a pure science. He also defined an element as a material that cannot
by broken down into simpler parts by chemical means.
- alchemy: The unscientific chemistry of the day. Mostly it was a bunch of junk.
* alchemists: People who practiced alchemy.
+ goal of: Transmute base metals into precious metals…didn't work.
- 4 elements of matter: Earth, fire, water, and air
- The Skeptical Chymist (1661): Boyle's book that criticized alchemists and attacked the 4 elements nature theory.
* 2 contributions:
1.) Proved air couldn’t be a basic element because it was a mixture of several gases.
2.) He also defined an element as a material that can’t be broken down into simpler parts by chemical means.
Joseph Priestley: discovered oxygen, studied the properties of carbon dioxide, and invented carbonated drinks.
- discovery: Existence of oxygen
- carbon dioxide: His study of it resulted in his invention of carbonated drinks.
- quote: “Every year of the last twenty or thirty has been of more importance to science…than any ten in the preceding century.”
* meaning: They were advancing by leaps and bounds - making discoveries super fast.
Antoine Lavoisier: discovered carbon dioxide, and the nature of combustion, which results from the chemical union of a flammable material with oxygen.
- 2 discoveries:
1.) Materials don’t give off phlogiston when burned, but they consume oxygen.
2.) He discovered the nature of combustion, which results from the chemical union of a flammable material with oxygen.
- encounter with the guillotine: Lavoisier was a friend of Dr. Josef Guillotin the inventor of the guillotine, and he help Guillotin
devise the execution device because they thought it was a more "humane" way of killing criminals.
Later in life in addition to being a scientist, Lavoisier was a tax collector (one of the most hated
professions), he himself fell victim to the guillotine during the French Revolution.
How's that for ironic??
* quote about his death: When they were executing Lavoisier, a mathematician in the crowd said, “It required only a moment to
sever his head and probably 100 years will not suffice to produce another like it.”
Obviously, he knew of the genius of Lavoisier.
Marie Lavoisier: learned Latin and English so she could translate scientific essays and books for her husband, condensed numerous articles so her husband could be informed on a number of scientific subjects. (In short, he could not have made the discoveries he did without her help.)
- 3 contributions:
1.) Learned English and Latin so she could translate scientific essays and books for
her husband.
2.) She read numerous articles and condensed them so that he could be informed on
many scientific subjects.
3.) Mme. Lavoisier also made illustrations for her husband’s writing.
Importance of the application of scientific viewpoint: European philosophers in the 1700’s began to apply the scientific method to all human ideas and
practices. Science would profoundly alter humanity’s view of the world.
6-2: The Enlightenment in Europe
3 effects of the change in scientific thought had on thinking in other fields: Thinkers began to
use reasoned analysis to scrutinize political theory, legal practice, and religious beliefs.
3 areas of revolutionary scientific discoveries: human anatomy, nature, and the universe
Effects of the monarchs: Monarchs helped the new sciences by supporting scientific academies,
observatories, and museums.
- Charles II: English king who established the Royal Society of London in 1662.
* Royal Society of London: Scientific society designed to share information with others
in the field.
+ Famous members: Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle
- Louis XIV: King of France who supported the founding of the French Academy of Science.
* French Academy of Science: French equivalent of the Royal Society of London.
2 purposes of societies:
1.) Provided financial support to scientists
2.) Published scientific books and journals
Advances in science that led to the belief: Led philosophers and other thinkers to believe that if systematic laws governed the workings of nature and the universe, then political, economic, and social relationships could be understood by applying reason.
Natural law: a universal truth or principle that 17th century thinkers believed could only be found through
reason.
English Civil War:
- 2 sides: Between Absolutists (people who wanted absolute monarchs ruling) and people
who thought people should have the right to govern themselves.
2 English philosophers: Thomas Hobbes and John Locke who dealt with theories on government
and natural law.
Philosophy: Greek for "love of wisdom"
- Philosophers: A thinker.
9 types of Philosophy:
- Ontology: Philosophic science on the nature of being.
- Epistemology: Philosophic science dealing with the problem of knowledge.
- Psychology: Study of the brain and mental processes; ability to see rationally.
- Theodicy: Philosophic science of God, first cause, our creator, natural theory.
- Logic: Philosophic science of correct thinking.
- Ethics: Philosophic science of dealing of human acts (right and wrong), moral philosophy.
- Politics: Philosophy of government, how should man rule himself.
-Axiology: Philosophic science that studies the general nature of value.
-Aesthetics: Philosophic science that studies art, beauty, and artistic value
Thomas Hobbes: English philosopher who used the idea of natural law in politics to argue that monarchy was the best form of government.
-4 ideas:
1.) Violence and disorder come naturally to humans and without an absolute government,
chaos would occur.
2.) People should form a contract or agreement to give up their freedom and live obediently
under a ruler.
3.) People would be ruled by a monarch who would protect them by keeping their world
peaceful and orderly.
4.) He also believed that people generally do not have the right to rebel against their government,
no matter ho unjust it might be.
* Leviathan: Hobbes' book, published in 1651, about a state in which people lived in a state
of anarchy - without a government. It showed how “nasty, brutish, and short” life
would be in such a world.
John Locke: English philosopher whose ideas on natural law were totally opposite of Hobbes - and many in his time. He believed in the idea of the social contract - a deal between the people and the ruler on how they would be ruled. His ideas were tremendously influential on early American politics.
- basis of theories: On the fact that a government was based on the social contract to establish
order.
- 6 ideas:
1.) Government was based on a contract and that it was necessary to establish order.
2.) People in a state of nature are reasonable and moral individuals.
3.) Humans have natural rights to life, liberty, and property
4.) People have the right to break the contract if their government fails to uphold their
natural rights.
5.) If people employed reason, they would arrive at a cooperative and workable form
of government.
6.) The idea of Empiricism
* Empiricism: all knowledge is obtained through observation and experience.
* tabula rasa: All people were born tabula rasa-a blank tablet-and our
experiences etch knowledge onto our brains.
+ “Experience is the best teacher.”: It is from John Locke’s idea of tabula
rasa that we get this modern saying.
* 3 natural rights: Life, liberty, and property
* social contract: People make a contract with government to protect their natural
rights. If the government fails to uphold their rights, the people can
break the contract.
- Two Treatises of Government: Locke's ideas on government. It was published in 1690. Caused
a huge outcry since it was considered to be extremely radical.
* area of influence: Tremendously influential in Europe and the American colonies.
American use of ideas of the British philosophers as a justification for revolution: We used these ideas
to justify our independence from Great Britain and to create a new form of government.
Thomas Jefferson: One of the Founding Fathers; writer of the Declaration of Independence. He was
a great admirer of John Locke's ideas.
- Declaration of Independence: Jefferson used many of Locke's ideas about the social contract
between government and the people a basis for much of the Declaration of Independence.
2 major changes in the practice of law:
1.) Incorporating scientific or reasoned thought in applying the law helped to end the unjust
trials.
2.) Lawmakers placed less value on hearsay and on confessions made under torture in
determining the guilt or innocence of suspected criminals.
International law: The law that binds all countries.
Hugo Grotius: Dutch jurist (fancy word for lawyer/judge)
-2 ideas:
1.) Called our international code based on natural law.
2.) He believed that one body of rules could reduce the dealings of governments to a
system of reason of order
William Penn: American who advocated an assembly of nations committed to world peace. (He also was
the founder of the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania.)
- Quaker religion: A protestant religion based on simplicity. They left England to flee
religious persecution. They came to America as colonists. They are also
known as the Society of Friends.
* 2 things they are opposed to: War and taking any kind of oath
- colony: They established a Quaker colony in Pennsylvania.
- pacifism: opposition to war or violence as a way to settle disputes.
- 2 ideas:
1.) Advocated pacifism.
2.) He advocated an assembly of nations committed to world peace -- (Took us until after
World War I to come up with the United Nations.)
Application of reason to scientific belief: People began to try to apply reason to religious belief. Sometimes this is difficult to do because many things in religion must be accepted on faith. This is the time period when we began to see the shift in intellectual thought. Some people believed that faith and science were not compatible.... leads to the separation of church and state.
-2 social classes who did it: The upper and middle classes could turn away from traditional
religious views and create a more secular society.
- secular: Outside the religious realm; worldly.
Deism: Religious philosophy of the 1700’s based on reason and the idea of natural law that swept through
Europe and America.
- 5 ideas:
1.) They believed in a God.
2.) Denounced organized religion.
3.) Said organized religions exploited people’s ignorance and superstitions.
4.) Intended to construct a simple and more natural religion based on reason and natural law.
5.) Asserted the rightness of humanity’s place in an orderly universe.
** Deism was an attempt to mesh religion and science.
6-3: The Enlightenment Spreads
belief of European thinkers: Their scientific approach helped illuminate and clarify both the natural world and the study of human behavior.
Age of Reason: time period from 1687 to about 1789 (from Newton’s gravitational theory to the French Revolution) when many great thinkers examined laws, constitutions, kings, religions and the arts to see whether they could be squared with natural law.
Age of Enlightenment: The time period that emphasized rationalism, intellectual freedom, and freedom from prejudice and superstition in social and political activity; the intellectual movement of the Age of Reason.
- dates: Late 1600’s through the 1700’s
- 8 characteristics:
1.) Men and women of The Enlightenment studied the world as though they were looking
at it for the first time.
2.) They defined the world using science as their base.
3.) Natural scientists analyzed and classified thousands of animals, insects, and plants.
4.) Geologists drew maps of the Earth’s surface.
5.) Astronomers continued to make discoveries about the universe.
6.) Enlightenment thinkers perceived the universe as a machine governed by fixed laws.
7.) They saw God as a master mechanic of the universe- the builder of a machine who
provides laws and then allowed it to run on its own.
8.) Progress - The idea that the world and its people could be improved.
Jean Le Rond d’ Alembert: French mathematician who claimed the new method of thinking and the enthusiasm that accompanied it had…
- quote: “…brought about a lively formation of mines, spreading through nature in all directions
like a river which as burst at its dams.”
* meaning: Nothing is holding society back from progress.
2 factors that helped Enlightenment ideas spread:
1.) Through the writings of the philosophers.
2.) Through the discussions in the salons.
- 6 characteristics:
1.) They believed in Locke’s political philosophy and Newton’s scientific theories.
2.) They disapproved of superstitions.
3.) They disapproved of religious opposition to new scientific advances.
4.) They believed in freedom of speech.
5.) They believed everyone has the right to liberty.
* liberty: freedom
6.) It was their books & essays that helped to spread & popularize ideas and beliefs of
the Enlightenment.
Paris: The most active center of idea exchange.
Salons: a gathering where Enlightenment intellectuals met for conversation in France.
- held where: mostly in wealth people's homes.
- 4 types of people who participated: Writers, artists, educated people, and the nobility
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