The Scientific, French, and Industrial Revolutions

¶ … Revolutions

The history of modern human civilization reflects the gradual evolution of thoughts, ideas, political reform, and technological progress. At various times, specific periods of change were important enough to have been recorded as revolutions. Some of the most significant of these revolutions contributed to human history and societal development individually as well as in conjunction with other simultaneous or nearly simultaneous changes.

The Scientific Revolution was responsible for fundamental changes in the understanding of the physical world, chemistry, biology, and of human anatomy and physiology. The French Revolution represented the recognition of the fundamental rights of citizens to fairness and humane consideration on the part of their respective monarchical governments. The Industrial Revolution increased the availability of information and provided new modes of transportation and mechanical processes that radically changed the lives of large numbers of people throughout Europe and the North American continent.

The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was part of a period referred to as the Enlightenment era in Europe. Some of the most important aspects of the Scientific Revolution included the manner in which printing and paper manufacturing lead to the easier spread of intellectual ideas and the education of ordinary people (Bentley, 2005). Without these advances, the intellectual ideas that emerged from the period would have not spread very widely or inspired the types of demand for social change reflected in subsequent revolutions, such as in France.

In principle, the Scientific Revolution helped open minds toward new ideas that had never previously been questioned on such fundamental issues as the relative place of the earth in the universe elsewhere than at its center (Riley, Gerome, Myers, et al., 2005). More generally, this new awareness of the acceptability of questioning ideas led directly to the introduction of other novel concepts in philosophy, religion, artistic expression, and in the natural rights of the individual in society (Kishlansky, Geary, & O' Brien, 2009). In that respect, the Scientific Revolution also inspired the beliefs and values that led to the French Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution radically changed the lives of millions of people throughout the 19th century. Previously, the vast majority of people across Europe never traveled more than a few miles from their homes during their entire lives and received little timely information about what was happening elsewhere in the world (Riley, Gerome, Myers, et al., 2005). The introduction of the telegraph, telephone, and modern printing processes allowed ordinary people to become aware of important national and international events for the first time (Riley, Gerome, Myers, et al., 2005).

Likewise, the development of railroads and powered oceanic vessels tremendously increased the opportunities of ordinary people to travel. However, the most important contribution of the Industrial Revolution may be the extent to which changes in the types of employment patterns led directly to the evolution of modern cities as large numbers of people began to work in non-agricultural jobs for the first time (Kishlansky, Geary, & O' Brien, 2009). Meanwhile, the modern agricultural technologies that emerged from the Industrial Revolution also increased the availability and quality of the foods being produced by fewer and fewer people (Kishlansky, Geary, & O' Brien, 2009).

Relative Importance

In some respects, these different revolutions contributed different types of changes to human societies. Viewed from that perspective, a strong argument can be made that the Industrial Revolution was the most significant of the three. However, in other respects, it is impossible to separate the significance of the Scientific Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, since the latter was so much a function of the former. Meanwhile, both are likely more significant than the French Revolution since the types of needs and demands that sparked the French Revolution were not unique to the French and would likely have resulted in similar social change elsewhere had they not happened to have occurred first in France. Ultimately, the Industrial Revolution actually resulted directly in more change to human societies and to the lives of millions of people. The Scientific Revolution affected and benefited human life less directly, notwithstanding the fact that its concepts did lead to the development of the changes that inspired and made the Industrial Revolution possible.