THE PEOPLE OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION & ENLIGHTENMENT

SCIENTISTS

NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

• Discovered that the Sun stood at the center of the universe(heliocentric).
• 25 years later he reasoned that the stars, Earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun.
• Published his book in 1543 that had his theory's in it.

JOHANNES KEPLER

• Concluded that there were certain mathematical laws that govern planetary motion.
• Said that the Sun revolves around the planets in elliptical orbits instead of circles.
• Keplers laws showed that Copernicus's ideas were true.

GALILEO GALILEI

• Discovered the law of pendulum in a Cathedral.
• Discovered a falling object accelerates at a fixed & predictable rate.
• He built his own telescope.
• Discovered that Jupiter has 4 moons, and the sun had dark spots.

SIR FRANCIS BACON

• Urged scientists to experiment.
• Said that scientists should observe the world and gather information about it.
• Then he said scientists should draw conclusions.
• He discovered the experimental method.

RENE DESCARTES

• Developed analytical geometry(Algebra & Geometry).
• Believed everything should be doubted until proved.
• Said that scientists should reject old assumptions.

PHILOSOPHERS

JOHN LOCKE

• Believed that people could learn from experience and improve themselves.
• Criticized absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self-government.
• Believed all people are born with 3 natural rights; life, liberty, and property.

VOLTAIRE

• Believed in tolerance, freedom of religion, & freedom of speech.
• Admired the English government much more than his own.
• He dared to raise doubts about the Christian religion.

MONTESQUIEU

• Devoted himself to the study of political liberty.
• Believed that Britain was the best governed country of it's own day.
• He proposed that separation of powers would keep any individual or group form gaining total control of the government.

ROUSSEAU

• Was passionately committed to individual freedom.
• Argued that civilization corrupted people's goodness.
• Believed that the only good government was the one that was freely formed by the people.

WOLLSTONECRAFT

• Disagreed that woman's education should be secondary to men's.
• Believed that woman, like men need an education to become virtuous and useful.
• Believed that woman should not only be nurse's, but doctor's too.
• She argued for woman's right's in politics.

THOMAS HOBBES

• Believed that we all fear violent death.
• Believed that we have a right to defend ourselves in any way possible.
• Also believed that since resources are scarce life is a "war of all against all".
• He believed that it's in our best interest to avoid war.