The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment (1500 1800)

Submitted by Anchal,Anmol & Anubhuti

During the first half of the 1700s, philosophers emphasized the use of reason. They thought that people should use reason to free themselves from ignorance and superstition and thereby become enlightened. They were convinced that enlightened people could perfect themselves and society. Thus, the eighteenth century is known as the Enlightenment or Age of Reason.

The Scientific Method The scientific method is a threefold approach to scientific study. First, careful experiments and observations are made. Second, reason is used to interpret the results of the experiments and observations. Third, mathematics rather than logic or reasoning from principles, is used to prove scientific theories.

Copernicus
Nicolas Copernicus, a Polish mathematician and astronomer, played a central role in developing the scientific method.

Copernicus Theory
Copernicus used mathematical calculations to show that Ptolemy was wrong on two crucial points. First, Copernicus said that the earth was not stationary but that it Turned on its axis once a day . Second, he declared that the earth was not the center of the universe. He argued that the planets revolved around the sun in perfect circles.

Ptolemy
Ptolemy taught that the earth was the center of the universe and the sun and the other planets revolved around it in perfect circles.

Galileo Galilei
Through the telescope, Galileo saw that the moon had a rough surface broken by jagged mountains. He discovered that the planet Jupiter had four moons, which no one had seen before. The sun was seen to be imperfect because it had dark, changeable spots on its surface. Galileos discoveries showed that the universe was very Different from what ancient philosophers had taught When Galileo announced his discoveries in the early 1600s, the conflict between the traditional thinking and the new science broke into the open. An outspoken man, he did not hesitate to defend his views. He made powerful enemies when he humiliated his critics in public. These enemies convinced the Catholic Church to condemn the teachings of Copernicus and to forbid Galileo from defending his new ideas.

Galileo Galilei 1564-1642

Isaac Newton
An English mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton, built on the work of many earlier scientists. Among Newtons most important contribution was the law of gravity. It states that there is a force of attraction between objects that increases as objects move closer together. Newtons law explains mathematically how the moons gravity causes tides on earth and how the suns gravity keeps the planets within their orbits. Newton is said to have discovered gravity after he saw an apple fall. His law explains that an apple falls to the ground because it is attracted by the earths gravity.

Newtons Effect
Newtons work had many effects. Navigators and mapmakers used his mathematics to make more precise charts. Calculus was used to improve weapons such as guns and cannons. Later, inventors improved on Newtons ideas and developed such practical devices as the steam engine.

Further Discoveries
In 1609, Kepler announced that the planets move in another kind of orbit, called an ellipse.

Johannes Kepler 1571-1630

THE CULTURE OF SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The Baroque Style in Art
The age of the scientific revolution was also the age of the baroque style in art. The term baroque was invented by eighteenth century critics who regarded seventeenth century art as a corruption of Renaissance art. The dominant notes of baroque were a sense of tension and conflicts of man and environment etc. The most typical product of baroque architecture was royal palace: VERSAILLES in France.

Operas-that originated in Italy

Early in the seventeenth century operas were the original creation. The union of dramatic action and simple music style was a great popular success. The dramatic conflicts of the action and the emotive power of the music suites the taste of the period.

It includes elements like acting, drama, scenery, costumes, and sometimes dance.

Seventeenth- Century Thought About Man

These conceptions may be conveniently summed up under three heads:

individualism

The radical thinkers of the seventeenth century were coming to think of society as an organization of independent individuals.
relativism

Idea of relativism in times was born and grew. What had been the right behavior of romans was perhaps not right in other times.

rationalism
The leading thinkers of the seventeenth century were predominantly rationalistic. Reason was the faculty that distinguished man from the beast, & the triumphs of seventeenth-century science proved that reason would be trusted & so the conclusion was drawn that the man of reason could know & understand the world into which he was born if he made the right use of his mind.

The Enlightment

It was the philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement. Known as the The age of reason. The task that the leading thinkers of the eighteenth century set themselves was to popularize the method and natural science and to apply these methods and principles to god, man and society. It is basically the dawn of the age of light after a long night of darkness.