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Jan 1, 1543
Nicolaus Copernicus's theory
In 1543 Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a revolotionary idea that the sun was the center of the universe and that the earth was just one of the many planets that revolved around it. When Copernicus first shared his idea, it was not welcomed by many scientists because they had believed in the teachings of Ptolemy. After many years with the help of many other scientists,Copernicus was finnaly proved to be right. -
Jan 1, 1543
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius was a Brabantian physician who in 1543 published the first detailed anatomy of the human body. This helped all physicians in the future understand the body. -
Chemistry
During the 1600s Robert Boyle made great advances in chemistry by distinguishing elements and compounds.Thanks to Boyle's study on elements and compounds we are able to analyze the composition of objects. -
Hobbes and Locke
Thomas Hobbes and John Locke had two very different views on human nature. Hobbes argued that humans are violent and selfish people who had to be controlled.He said that strict rules must be put in place to keep citizens under control. Locke on the other hand believed that it was human nature to be reaonable and moral.He thought that the fewer resrictions humans had from the government the better.These two men's ideas were to be debated for centuries to come. -
The New Scientific Method
In the earky 1600's a new method of scientific proof began to appear. This scientific procces forced scientists to 1.State a problem 2. Gather information on the subject 3. Come up with a hypothesis 4. Perform various tests to test the hypnothesis 5. Record and analyze data 6. State conclussion 7. Repeat steps to be more precise. This new scientific method made it impossible for the church or past scholars to influence how peolple view the universe. -
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was a great inventor who perfected the microscope. Some of his most powerful telescopes could magnify over 500 times.This allowed him to see cells and microorganisms. This telescope helped the scienistific field by showing a world which had never been seen. -
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei was a italian philosepher. He set up an astronomical telescope and he observed the movement of the planets.He like Copernicus determined that the Sun and not the Earth was the center of the universe.His ideas were met much harder than Copernicus though. Many scientist attacked his views and the church tried him for heresy. He was forced to renounce his teachings to the public. -
Issac Newton
Issac Newton is one of the most famous scientist's of all time. Newton learned and proved why the planets moved the way they did. He explained that this force he discovered called gravity keeps the planet's in their orbits. Althogh his theory of gravity was questioned, a new form of math called calculus was formed off of what he discovered. -
Voltaire
Francois-Marie arouet Voltaire was one of the most famous French philosophers, and he believed in the freedom of speech. Voltaire spoke out against corrupt church officials and idle aristocrats. The Catholic Church and the French government both forced him into exile and tried to destroy his works.Even after he was put into exile he defended his freedom of speech. -
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Music
Lots of the music of this time was made for churches,kings,ballets or operas. There were many great artist composing at the time such as Bach,Handel and Mozart. These composers may have lived over 300 years ago, but their music is ageless, and they are still household names to many. -
The novel
During the 1700s authors began to write long fictional stories called novels. People enjoyed this syle of writing and it has been used by authors ever since. -
Adam Smith
Adam S mith was one of the biggest adovocates of laissez-faire. Adam Smith believed that the free market would help all classes. He believed if there was a free market, it would drive prices down by creating more competition. -
Womens enligtenment
During the mid 1700s women started to want to expand their knowledge.They believed that they should'nt have to be limited to basic household duties. Women believed that they had natural rights which meant they should be able to to be educated like men.This was one of the first of many women's rights movements to come. -
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Encyclopedia
Between 1751-1789 20,000 copies of Denis Diderot's controversal Encyclopedia were sold.In the book, Diderot critized slavery,supported freedom of speech and also criticized the divine right and traditional religions.The church was not happy about this obviosly and attempted to excommunicate him.Though the churche attempted to stop the book, it was translated to other language's and his ideas were spread to all of Europe. -
Laissez-faire
Laissez-faire is a policy which does not permit government to become involveed in trade.This helped buisness's grow without the governments interference. This policy supported free rade and was against taxes. -
Enlightenment censorship
During the time of the enlightenment the Church and French government tried to protect their old ways of thinking.They did not want these new ways of thinking into the rest of Europe so they tried to burn all books related to the topic and imprison writers of these books though the French were still able to spread their ideas by writing fiction. In 1759 Voltaire published a fiction book named " Persian Letters" which told about the corruption of Europe's leaders. -
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Roussea was Genevan philosopher who was raised in a poor family. He believed that scoety put to many society on peoples behavior. He thought that the human mind with minimal limitations was best. Rousseaus' ideas have influenced social workers thinking for almost 200 years. -
Overpopulation
Thomas Mathus was an authur believed that if people kept on having as many they were having at the time, Europe would overpopulate and there would not be enough food.In his book he urges people to have less children. His predictions were wrong because the population grew and so did the food supply. Overpopulation is still something that some people are still worried about today. -
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a mill owner who refused to use child labor. He thought that unions should be set up to stop horrible things like child labor. To show he was for good treatment of workers he set up a factory in Scotland in which he built them houses, schools and just treated his employes very well. Soon after people were coming to his mill try to copy what he had done. Owen was one of the first to stand up for what was right and to take a stand against child labor. -
Marxism
A German philosopher named Karl Marx had a theory that all wealth should be equal. He felt that history had been too shaped on class and wealth so he felt that if he took it away society would be better off. Marxism was met well at first but slowly people began to find gaping holes in Marx's argument and his theory is almost non-existent today.
