Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Dbq on the Scientific Revolution

Good Essays
936 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dbq on the Scientific Revolution
The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment of the 16th and 17th centuries revolutionized thought and learning. Scholasticism and humanism were replaced with rationalism and the scientific method- empiricism. Scientists were aided by funding by some governments, while others could reject findings that conflicted with their authority. Scientists, or philosophers, were both praised and condemned by religious authorities for either glorifying the intellect of God through research or delving into matter of which only the Scriptures had intellectual authority. The society of other scientists allowed them to combine ideas, while women's expected role kept them from succeeding in the same real. All in all, we see that political, religious, and social factors could both aid and hold back the work of scientists.

As science was popularized in the Enlightenment, governments found they would gain wealth and prestige through funding and encouraging scientific research. Jean Baptiste Colbert, the financial minister under Louis XIV, knew this well and suggested that they cause "the arts and science to flourish" by establishing "several academies for both letters and sciences." This would increase the "splendor and happiness of the state (Doc 11)." In fact, Louis XIV had visited the French Royal Academy six years before Colbert sent him this letter, as shown in Document 10, showing his consideration for the activities and possible finding of the Academy. Still, political patrons of the sciences had the power to censor or reject the findings of their protégés. One French monk and natural philosopher, Marin Mersenne, told his patron directly in writing: "if you object to anything, I am ready to remove it entirely (Doc 5)." Than said, he went on to assert the validity of his experiments. Mersenne was willing to make his work acceptable to his noble patron because he needed the funding. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, reasoned that humans were inherently guilty in the state of nature, and that they required a strong leader, a "Leviathan," to create order out of the chaos that would naturally ensue. In his 1668 work, "Leviathan," he reasoned that "few men care what the truth may be, since it affects no one's ambition," but if truth (science) "conflicted with the interests of those who rule… it would be suppressed (Doc 7)." Thus, Hobbes' thinking shows how political patrons or leaders in general had absolute authority even over scientific findings.

Scientists and natural philosophers' work was also affected dualistically by religious factors. Many scientists were religious themselves and sought to reconcile their discoveries with teachings of the Church. Early in the period Nicholas Copernicus dedicated his book "On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres" to Pope Paul III because the pope's "love of letters and science." He asserted that he believed his "labors contribute even to the well being of the Church (Doc 1)." This is illuminating, considering that many felt his concept of a heliocentric universe to be insulting the human race, God's ultimate creation. Later in the period, a religious German philosopher, Gottfred Leibniz, showed analytically that since "God governs minds," the products of human minds could better enforce the "happiness of the good and the punishment of the evil (Doc 12)." Even a nonscientist theologian, John Calvin, called astronomy an art which "unfold[ed] the admirable wisdom of God (Doc 2)." On the other hand, some religious people felt that science threatened religion. According to Italian monk Ciampoli in Doc 3, Galileo should have "deferred to the authority of those who have jurisdiction over the human intellect in the matters of the interpretation of Scripture." He wrote this in reaction to Galileo's discoveries and interpretations of light differences on the moon. The monk reasoned that his opinions could lead to the questioning of the Bible, over which Galileo had no authority. In Doc 8 Walter Charleton, not a member of the clergy negated the idea that atoms could be "eternal or self-governing." Only God could control the "creation and arrangement of the atoms." Thus he set boundaries on how far science could go in explaining the universe. Only God could have set it in motion.

Finally, scientists benefited from scientific communities within society, while society kept women scientists in the place. In general, science was seen as a benefit to society. Francis Bacon, the founder of empiricism, defined the goal of science as this: "that human life be endowed with new discoveries and powers." A scientists himself, he was probably enamored within this goal. Across Europe scientific institutions and societies sprang up during this era. As a result, scientists were able to work together and share ideas. Henry Oldenbury of the English Royal Society recognized that "philosophy" would be raised to its greatest heights through "friendship among learned men (Doc 6)." The only real negative societal factor shown through these documents was that of gender roles. Women scientists were thought to neglect their households which were where a woman was meant to be. They could not keep up with fashion and just were not appealing to society. Many thought women's minds were inferior to those of men. Those who were neutral on the subject kept them out of societies (scientific organizations) because they were simply too distractingly out of the norm. Margaret Cavendish came across these hardships as she attempted to succeed in natural philosophy. In Document 9 she laments that because she is a woman, she cannot "set up [her] own school of natural philosophy" as she would like.

Thus we see that politics, religion, and society could affect the work of scientists in both negative and positive ways, but through it all science prospered.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    A last factor that influenced scientists was the traditional religious beliefs stated in the church doctrine. Until the Scientific Revolution many people had accepted that they were not supposed to understand all the mysteries of the universe because they believed certain knowledge could not be obtained by humans. This was called skepticism, as humans were skeptical of the range of their abilities. A popular advocator for this view was Michel de Mointaigne, who often asked the question, “What do I know?” The answer to this question was, of course, “Nothing.” People would put all their faith in their religion, thinking that it held the knowledge they could not obtain. {CONT.} Often times, like in the case of Galileo, the church would find scientists’…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Imagine life as we know it without science. This may be hard to do, considering that scientific technology is now a perpetual symbol of modern-day life. Everything we see, everything we touch, and everything we ingest—all conceived of scientific research. But how did it come to be this way? Was it not only centuries ago that science began to surpass the authority of the church? Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, natural philosophers, now known as scientists, founded a new world view on science, which was previously based on the Bible and classic philosophers like Aristotle and Ptolemy. Both people connected their natural studies directly to God and the Bible, creating ideas like a geocentric earth. With time and new ideas, scientists managed to develope methods for creating and discovering things in nature, and with enough resources and patronage, were able to answer asked and unasked questions. Science, however, was not supported by everyone, and had to face many challenges to achieve the power it maintains in today’s world. Due to the strong authority that politics, religion, and common social order controlled in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, science was subjectively held in the hands of those who could utilize it or reject it.…

    • 1531 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scientific Revolution

    • 1013 Words
    • 29 Pages

    During the 17th and 18th centuries, women were often seen as the inferior of the two sexes. They were expected to be educated only in how to take care of the house, how to cook, how to raise a child, and other common jobs that were thought to be suitable for a woman. However, as the Scientific Revolution occurred, more and more women began to take interest in studying other things such as chemistry, astronomy, and medicine. The attitudes and reactions towards the participation of women in these fields of study during the 17th and 18th centuries were both positive and negative; some people were completely against it, some men supported it, and some women supported their sex by proving themselves in their respective fields of study; but, the road to acceptance for women was not one without struggles, sacrificing countless days and their health for the all the sake of science.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The work of scientists in the Scientific Revolution was affected negatively by both religious and social…

    • 901 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scientific Revolution of the sixteen and seventeenth century were affected greatly from the contributions of the opposing voice and ideas of the Church and their disagreement with the uprising of scientific studies. Despite the rejection from the Church, the Scientific Revolution was heavily influenced by those in society who felt differently, and believed the benefits the Scientific Revolution would bring. This view however, was unequally agreed in when it came to the view of it politically.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Scientific Revolution, which was the development of new sciences and technology, and The Age of Enlightenment, which was the so called "age of reason", had sparked women's participation in sciences. Ever since Europe was moving towards the modern world, women had been trying to change their social status from regular housework and staying at home to getting better jobs such as teaching and learning science. Although this was a great change for women, there were changing attitudes and views toward them when they had participated in science. Dorothea Erxleben, a German M.D. had appreciated that she learned science, but other people, such as men felt that they she and along with other women are taking away man's superiority role in society. There were defiantly both pros and cons towards women's participation in science. (Document 9)…

    • 1044 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Scientific Revolution Dbq

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    *The Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries brings to mind great scientists like Galileo who dedicated themselves to math and science in order to help human learning. Advances were made in chemistry, astronomy, math, and even more branches of science by these men. However, they were not the ones whose thoughts were able to change that of the people in charge, i.e., the Pope and the powerful rulers of that time. Without those people, the ideas of the scientists would never have been accepted by the general public. The thoughts of those people such as religious figures, philosophers, and even men working in the state were those that most helped to push the scientific revolution forward, because they broke boundaries and changed the way even society itself reacted to new ideas and developments.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scientific Revolution was a time of scientific questioning in which tremendous discoveries were made about the Earth. It has been referred to as “the real origin both of the modern world and the modern mentality” (Mckay, 596) and caused the foremost change in the world-view. This revolution occurred for many reasons. Universities were established in Western Europe in order to train lawyer’s doctors and church leaders and philosophy became a major study alongside medicine, law, and theology. The Renaissance stimulated scientific progress because mathematics was improved, texts were recovered, and scientific investigations were supported. Also, new scientific instruments had been developed, such as the thermometer, microscope, telescope and more. These instruments caused observations to be more accurate which helped circulate knowledge, thus causing a Scientific Revolution.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scientific Revolution Dbq

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The scientific revolution was a time for development and growth in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was a time for discovery and knowledge. Since this was a new concept, it wasn’t widely accepted amongst everyone, as we often see when something new emerges. Factors that affected the work of scientists in the sixteenth and seventeenth century were political factors because political authorities offered guidance which was necessary for continuation. Social factors influenced progression and acceptance of these new theories as well as created a community to allow for greater contribution. Finally, religious factors offered a source of acceptance from higher powers as well as allowed for development on both ends.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Science Dbq

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Analyze how political, religious, and social factors affected the work of scientists in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, scientists began to emerge with a new scientific worldview. They discerned new ways of experimentation and built off of scientists of the past. But these scientists were affected and pressured by different religious, social, and political factors.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The scientific revolution took place between 1500 and 1700, with scientists, or natural philosophers made many groundbreaking discoveries. A universe composed of matter in motion which could be understood through mathematics and experiment, changing the mindsets of many Europeans. The work of the scientists were greatly influenced by the approval of political figures and their desire of power, the support and compassion from influential members of the church and social factors that both influenced the progression and acceptance of the new theories.…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Political factors affected the work of scientists during these centuries. This is evident by Thomas Hobbes when says that people argue about what is right and wrong with “pens…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Document 5 showcases how nobles influenced what was published by natural philosophers. Marin Mersenne stated that if his patron did not like his findings, he would remove it. Natural philosophers wouldn't be able to do what they did without somebody finding their work. Thomas Hobbes agreed in document 7, suggesting that if the natural philosophers discovered something their politicians disagreed with, their work would be no longer funded. This suggests a political censorship of the sciences, allowing for politicians to make the citizens of their country to believe only what they want them to believe. Nevertheless, politicians and royalty admired the sciences and wanted to know more. Document 10 illustrates how Louis XIV was intrigued by the ideas the students at the French Royal Academy shared with him. This academy was most likely funded by prominent politicians in the French government. Without political patrons funding the natural philosophers’ work, there would be no work done. It was important for politicians to know about what these natural philosophers were doing, because it could pose a threat to their political…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Patricia Fara’s book “An Entertainment for Angels” is an insightful read about the discovery of electricity and how it helped mold people’s ideas during the enlightenment period. Fara’s point of view on the progress of science is very evident throughout the book. Her main argument is that science wasn’t an easy mission. In fact, scientists usually struggled with the ‘hostility’ and ‘curiosity’ of the people at the time when presenting newly formed ideas (Fara 10). In addition, Fara goes against the simplified and rather smoothly written history concerning scientific discoveries explaining that usually only a few scientists were given the credit for what many other scientists also contributed to. She…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays