4.+Scientific+Revolution+&+Enlightenment

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=Can you identify these famous leaders of the Scientific Revolution?=

= **Unit IV. Scientific Revolution & Enlightenment** =

**Overview of the unit:**
The scientific revolution, beginning around 1540, overturned geocentric Ptolemaic astronomy thus demolishing the imposing bonds between science and Church. These developments had limited practical consequences at the time, but the impact on intellectual life was enormous. The emergence of modern science was a distinctive characteristic of Western civilization and identity. In the eighteenth century, these new scientific findings were interpreted by the Enlightenment philosophes in a manner that extolled the superiority of rational, critical thinking. This new method, they believed, promised not just increased knowledge but the discovery of the fundamental laws of human society. Above all, the philosophes succeeded in shaping an emerging public opinion and spreading their radically new worldview. The ideas of the Enlightenment were an inspiration for absolute monarchs in central and eastern Europe who saw these ideas as useful tools for reforming and rationalizing their governments. While such monarchs believed enlightened reforms would ultimately improve the lives of ordinary people, their chief concern was strengthening their state. (adapted from Ch.18 summary in McKay text)

Khan Academy link:
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/art-history-1600-1700-the-baroque/beginners-guide-baroque/a/francis-bacon-and-the-scientific-revolution

Assignments
1. Ch 18: 589-598: Scientific Revolution 2. Ch 18: 598-608 Enlightenment, Philosophes, Rococo mentioned, Late Enlightenment (Rousseau and poor Kant explanation) 3. Ch 18: 609-616 Enlightened Absolutism 4. Rococo and Neo Classical art.

Questions to Guide your Reading
Click this link to see the reading questions.