Grace Knudson Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment and Resultant Intellectuals Revolution

A massive exchange of information that shook older ways of thinking and created new conceptions is the Scientific Revolution that occurred between mid-sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries first starting in Europe. Rather than relying on the Church and other outside sources, the Scientific Revolution promoted human reasoning, which was applied to human affairs and the physical universe.

Institutions such as the Church, towns and cities, guilds, professional associations, and universities established mandates to regulate and control members. Emerging universities were neutral zones of intellectual autonomy where students could study freely without the regulations of the church. These universities educated many major figures of the scientific revolution: Copernicus from Poland, Galileo from Italy, and Newton in England; these creators of the revolution set themselves apart from the old viewpoints of the world.

Prior to the Scientific Revolution, Europeans viewed the world from Aristotle’s viewpoint: the Earth is stationary and the center of the universe. However, because of Copernicus’s findings, the world was in shock when his message — the sun is the center of the earth — was announced. With Galileo’s improved telescope, he made observations that discounted the prior understanding of the cosmos. Furthermore, Newton proposed that the heavens and Earth were not separate spheres; instead, they were unified.

Outside...

For example, Islamic authorities had great suspicion of science and believed it as patronizing; the Islamic world relied on the Quran and their religious laws for the source of all knowledge. In China, the main focus for society was the preparation for civil exams and the piety in Confucianism, therefore disallowing independent learning and institutions. While these societies did not accept these new scientific ideas, the Europeans graciously embraced their resources such as Arab medical texts and astronomical research that allowed new sources of knowledge. In addition, Europe promoted mass literacy. Although the Scientific Revolution diminished religion among the intellectuals in the west, it exposed racial and gender inequalities for females and enslaved people.
In the eighteenth century, the Scientific Revolution spread to a broader European audience, which was aided by printing and book making. Spreading globally, the Scientific Revolution became so valued that the west desired it more than Christianity or democracy; these scientific ideas served as a pillar of global modern society.

While the Scientific Revolution focused on the physical world and how man is related to it, Enlightenment encourages the use of human reasoning. Enlightenment integrates scientific ideas to discover the laws governing the world and how it works. Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-imposed ability to develop understanding without direction from another. Thinkers of Enlightenment trust the power of…