Scientific Revolution
A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs
Scientific Revolution
18th century European movement in which thinkers applied the principles of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of society
The Enlightenment
A logical procedure for gathering information about the natural world, in which experimentation and observation are used to test hypotheses
Scientific Method
John Lockes three main ideas
Life, Liberty, Property
Argued that to escape a bleak life, people had to hand over their rights to a strong ruler
Thomas Hobbes
Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist; he discovered the law of motion of falling objects and invented the first working telescope; his discoveries put him into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church
Galileo Galilei
A group of French thinkers during the Enlightenment period
Philosophes
The idea that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun
Heliocentric Theory
A belief held by Enlightenment thinkers that truth could be discovered through reason or logical thinking
Rationalism
English philosopher and founder of British empiricism; he developed political and economic theories during the Enlightenment. He wrote Two Treatises of Government in which he declared that people have a right to rebel against governments that do not protect their rights
John Locke
English mathematician and natural philosopher; he discovered the law of gravity as well as laws on the physics of objects
Isaac Newton
A belief held by many scientists and philosophers during the Enlightenment that God created the universe and then allowed it to run on its own following natural laws
Deism
Social gathering of intellectuals and artists, like those held in the homes of wealthy women in Paris and other European cities during the Enlightenment
Salons
The agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights, thus creating an organized society or government
Social Contract
French philosopher and author; he was a supporter of Deism, the idea that God was no longer involved with the universe after creating it. He also advocated a tolerant approach to religion
Voltaire
In the Middle Ages, the earth-centered view of the universe in which scholars believed that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe
Geocentric Theory
Czarina of Russia from 1762 to 1796; ruling with absolute power, she introduced a number of reforms that extended Peter the Great’s policy of “westernization"
Catherine the Great
One of the 18th-century European monarchs who was inspired by Enlightenment ideas to rule justly and respect the rights of subjects
Enlightened Despots
•Relating to a grand, ornate style that characterized European painting, music, and architecture in the 1600s and early 1700s
Baroque
French jurist and political philosopher; he explored democratic theories of government. He proposed a government divided into three branches and greatly influenced the United States Constitution
Baron De Montesquieu
An object at rest stays at rest, an object in motion stays in motion
Newtons Law
Swiss-French political philosopher; he valued the social contract and addressed the nature of man in his work On the Origin of Inequality
Jean-Jaques Rousseau
measures designed to prevent any one branch of government from dominating the others
Checks and Balances
Relating to a simple, elegant style (based on ideas and themes from ancient Greece and Rome) that characterized the arts in Europe during the late 1700s
Neoclassical
British writer who advocated for greater education opportunities for women and urged women to enter the male-dominated fields of medicine and politics
Mary Wollstonecraft