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INTRODUCTION

The present work is to serve as a summary for the Scientific Revolution that
started roughly at the end of the fifteenth century and continued up to the
seventeenth century, and the Enlightenment movement, which sprouted in the
eighteenth century. Both concepts, the revolution and the movement, deal with
a change in the view of the world. They are considered pillars in the birth of
modern society and thinking, and reflect a shift from theological and
metaphysical explanations of the world towards a corpus of knowledge based
on reason and sensorial experimentation. In this summary, I hope to cover their
causes, evolution and consequences.

THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION AND ENLIGHTENMENT

What we know as the scientific revolution was in fact a process spanning for
more than two centuries (16th and 17th) and which, aside from profiting from the
multiple achievements of the philosophers of the time, drew from and couldn’t
have existed without the Ancient Greek knowledge of the world and
Renaissance advances on it. As far back as the 1200s, Robert Grosseteste
(1168-1253) and his student Roger Bacon (1219-1292) “argued that geometry
was the basis for comprehending the mysteries of nature, and that
mathematical models provided our understanding of the world around us”. What
is called a revolution is by some others considered the evolution of science.
However, because of the drastic break with the philosophy of science of the
past, its fast spreading and the lasting impact on our post-modern world, we
shall adhere to those who call the process a revolution.

It is important to note that early scientists did not think of themselves as such in
the current sense of the word. Back in the 1500 “scientists” saw themselves as
students of natural philosophy. The term scientist was first coined in 1833,
partly as a joke. Natural philosophers then, were at first concerned with
unveiling truths long lost from the Ancient world. By the 17th century, though,
they would be more focused on new discoveries of things never seen or
understood, often to the point of rejecting the old paradigms and old science as
mistakes spawned from a “dark age” of ignorance.

Even though Arabic scholars can be credited with the spreading of the Ancient
Greek philosophy back to the west and the Chinese were responsible for many
inventions paramount to the scientific revolution, it is not considered to have
originated anywhere but in Europe. This can be attributed to the particular
situation in European society and culture of the time.

With the growth of commerce and changing aspects of civic life the active
life was seen as more important than the medieval ideal of the life of
contemplation. Classical works in their original Greek and Latin began to be
available in Western Europe, along with previously unknown works. Included
were works by Plato (c. 427–348 b.c.e.) and other philosophers, works by
several mathematicians, and tracts attributed to certain mythological figures,
chief among them Hermes Trismegistus, an individual believed to have lived at
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the same time as, or before, Moses. These and other works had an important
effect on thought about the natural world. They emphasized the roles of number
and measurement, as well as unity, harmony, and the operations of hidden
forces in the universe.

There began to emerge a new attitude toward and respect for

craftsmanship, for the maker and doer, as well as for the thinker. Natural
philosophers and the creators of new systems of thought concerning nature
were frequently called architects or craftsmen. Illustrations showing a divine
being using a compass in creating the world were one symbol of this trend.

At the same time, the role of mathematics in everyday life took on increased
importance, since cities were growing, a merchant middle class was gaining
power and the increased transfer of land and wealth placed emphasis on the
need for banking, insurance, and bookkeeping.

The voyages to the new world, beginning with exploration of Madeira and
Azores off the coast of Spain, demanded further development of astronomy,
geography, cartography, and instruments useful in promoting those sciences.
Therefore, the study of mathematics and its applications, involving the use of
spherical geometry, trigonometry, and algebra, became increasingly important.

Seeking prestige and profit, rulers acted as patrons, not only of artists and
poets, but of craftspeople and natural philosophers as well as centres of new
ideas and practices in natural philosophy. Patrons would grant their clients
money, land, a title, or a combination of them. Rulers sought out well-known
astronomers for the improvement of navigation, the casting of horoscopes, or
assistance with their own astronomical pursuits. Alchemists were engaged to
create new, profitable commodities, and in some instances, novel medical
preparations. Such positions supplemented and, to some degree, displaced
universities

The invention of the printed press in China aided the spread of the new
trends.

FAMOUS EVENTS

Around this time, many famous discoveries were made and many innovative
theories presented. Most famous are those of Copernicus, Kepler, Galilei,
Newton, Descartes and Bacon, among many, many others (see annex).

In 1543, a year that is considered by many as the beginning of the Scientific

Revolution, Copernicus published his De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, in
which he claimed the earth both rotated on its axis and revolved around the
Sun. Copernicus based his research on Ptolemy’s work and later parted from it.
It is interested to note that he was motivated by a desire to respond to criticisms
of astrology, which serves to prove the point that scientia, or knowledge, was
not conceived as it is today, and many old ideas coexisted with the new.
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In Astronomia Nova, 1609, Johanned Kepler published his theory that planetary
orbits must be elliptical, thus breaking the ancient “spell” of perfect circular
motion in the heavens. He was influenced by Copernicus’ system, but couldn’t
fit its circular orbits with the data found by Tycho Brahe in his observatory.

In 1610, Galileo Galilei published Sidereus Nuncius, with revolutionary ideas on

gravity. He also invented a precise military compass, to be used by engineers
for precise measurement. The compass, along with an improved astrolabe, was
key in long-distance navigation, and therefore aided further exploration of the
New World.

Newton followed in 1687 with the publication of his Mathematical Principles of

Natural Philosophy. He found that the centrifugal tendency of bodies on the
surface of the Earth was minuscule compared to the force of gravity, thus
answering one of the physical objections to a rotating Earth.

At the same time, Descartes (in his works from 1637 to 1644) introduced the
importance of the doubt and the deductive method which can be summarized in
his famous phrase “I think, therefore I am”, and Francis Bacon (1620)
postulated a method of rigour for the sciences, what is now know as the
“scientific method”.

All of these scientists can be credited with other discoveries and achievements,
since they worked in multiple areas. Also, they were always expanding on old
knowledge, and their ideas were generally based on beliefs of some
philosophers of the time. After their works were published, these ideas caught
on easily, since they had been around for some time. The work of these
scientists served to prove hypotheses, rather than discover new ideas from
scratch.

The new emphasis on reason and empirical demonstration gave way to a new
movement, that of the Enlightenment. As with the Scientific Revolution, the
dates of beginning and ending of the movement are unclear. It might be said to
go as far back Decartes’ Discourse on the method, in 1637, and end with the
French Revolution in 1789, of even later, in 1815 with the Napoleon Wars.

Of the utmost relevance to our studies are the ideas of John Locke, known as
the father of liberalism. In his Two Treatises of Government (1689), he offers his
famous social-contract theory, according to which society is an agreement
between the authority and the people, who legitimise the sovereignty of the ruler
as long as the latter protects their natural rights. Other philosophers of the
Enlightenment that viewed society as a contract were Jean-Jacques Rousseau
(1762) and Thomas Hobbes (1651), who were famous for considering man as
inherently good and inherently bad, respectively, but both supporting the
contract theory.
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CONCLUSION

The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment are terms that generalize over a
wide range of events. At the same time that the “revolution” was going on, old
and new coexisted. Gradually, a separation from the old ways of natural
philosophers became the norm, and the classical body of knowledge was
increasingly disregarded. However, all discoveries from the Scientific Revolution
and theories inspired by the Enlightenment built upon classical ideas, which one
way or another influenced thinkers of the time and still influence thinkers of our
time.

The period of 1500-1700 can be considered a true revolution mostly because of

its break with the previous paradigm of thought. The speed at which advances
were made was unheard of at the time, there was a new focus on reason before
speculation and scientists demanded empirical demonstrations that weighed
more than authoritative claims.

Scientific revolution and Enlightenment are closely linked, in which one could
not have happened without the other. The various events of the revolution
strengthened the notion that reason was above all. Explanations pertaining to
the realm of religion could be adjusted to fit in scientific discoveries. The
revolution had made reason and science very powerful tools for thinkers of the
time, and it had spread to social studies, pushing for their credibility as having
scientific status.

More importantly, views and values of the revolution and the Enlightenment
would pave the way for the independence of the colonies and the industrial and
French revolutions to follow at the end of the eighteenth century. Reason and
natural rights were now at the spotlight, and would be in the mouths of men up
to our days.
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Bibliography

THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN

SCIENCE, Wilbur Applebaum, Greenwood Press, 2005
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION: THE ESSENTIAL READINGS, Marcus
Hellyer, Blackwell Publishing, 2003
WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS: THEIR HISTORY AND THEIR CULTURE, Edgard
McNall Burns, W.W. Norton, 1968

Links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/jardineih_01.shtml
http://www.wikipedia.org (used for quick reference on Scientific Revolution,
Enlightenment, Age of Reason, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo Galilei,
Christopher Columbus, mechanical philosophy, astrolabe)
http://users.ipfw.edu/gatesb/H114d.PPT