Ch 10 Notes

World History

 

Scientific Revolution- during late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, people started to try to explain the world around them

            - many early ideas based on teachings of Aristotle

            - by learning Greek and Latin during the Renaissance, they read works by ancient philosophers that disagreed with Aristotle

            - complex problems developed that needed to be solved using observation

            - new instruments were invented that helped in observation (microscope, telescope)

            - math developed and gave the philosophers the ability to solve problems

            - Becomes to be known as the Age of Reason

 

Astronomy-

-         old days- Ptolemaic System- Geocentric- earth at center of universe

o       moon and the planets are smooth, perfect bodies

o       Heaven lied beyond the stars, farthest from humans/earth

-         Copernicus- Polish astronomer

o       Believed in heliocentric system- sun is at the center of the universe

o       Moon goes around earth, earth and the planets around the sun

-         Kepler- used math to prove Copernicus’ theory

o       Also proved the orbits were not circular

-         Galileo- used a telescope to observe the planets/starts

o       Concluded the planets/moon were not perfect/smooth bodies, but had features like the earth

o       Saw Jupiter’s moons

o       Published findings in The Starry Messenger

o       Tried for heresy and found guilty by the Catholic Church

§         Agreed to never write/speak about his findings/teachings

§         Placed under house arrest

o       Before- the heavens were viewed as spiritual, now not much different from earth

-         Newton- tried to explain how objects moved in space

o       Said all objects have gravity- that’s why the planets move around the sun and not in a straight line

o       Developed 3 laws of motion

§         Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force

§         Force= mass x acceleration

§         For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction

 

Medicine/Chemistry

-         old days- ideas based on writings of Galen- ideas based on dissections of animals

-         Vesalius- wrote  On the Fabric of the Human Body

o       Dissected cadavers to observe

o       Disproved some of Galen’s ideas

-         Harvey- observed that there was only 1 kind of blood in the body

o       Also saw the heart was the key to circulation (as opposed to the liver)

-         Boyle- used controlled experiments

o       Stuff with gas (volume of gas depends on pressure)

 

Women- tried to get in the game, made some advances, but still weren’t taken seriously

 

Descartes- philosopher

-         “I think, therefore I am.”

-         Depended on reason- rationalism- reason is the chief source of knowledge

 

Scientific Method- procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence

-         proposed by Francis Bacon- a philosopher

-         make simple observations and then generalize based on the observations/experiments

o       inductive reasoning- 1. that crow is black, 2. ALL crows are black

 

Sec 2

 

Enlightenment- philosophical movement during the 18th century

-         inspired by the scientific revolution

-         apply scientific method to study society use reason

-         Newton- discovered natural law of nature

o       Thought with time people would discover natural laws of society

-         Locke- thought people became good/bad based on experiences

o       If people were exposed to the right influences, people would change and so would society (hello SOCIOLOGY)

 

Where- the most prominent were French

-         inspired by the English (Locke, Newton)

-         took place all over Europe

 

Montesquieu- wrote about gov’t

-         3 types of gov’t

o       republics- small countries

o       despotism- large countries (strong dictator)

o       monarchy- for medium size (like England)

-         separation of powers- so not one branch too powerful, limit each other

o       legislative- makes the laws

o       executive- kings

o       Judicial- courts

 

Voltaire- very critical of religious intoleration

-         said “all men were brothers under God”

-         believed in Deism- God set the world in motion and let it go

 

Diderot- wrote Encyclopedia

-         also wanted more religious tolerance

-         attacked religious superstition

 

Social Science- history, economics, sociology

-         economics- early ideas, the gov’t should not get involved (laissez faire), let the people be free to do what they want

o       Adam Smith- The Wealth of Nations

§         State only has 3 jobs

1.      army- protect from invasion

2.      police- protect citizens from each other

3.      build stuff that individuals can’t afford to do themselves (roads, canals)

-         Beccaria- crime and punishment

o       Anti- capital punishment

§         He said it doesn’t deter crime

§         State sponsored murder is just as bad as murder

 

Rousseau- The Social Contract

-         people created gov’t to protect their rights, but now they are too strong

-         society agrees to be governed by general will- what’s best for everyone

o       people that disagree are forced to go along with the general will

 

Women-Mary Wollstonecraft

-         wrote the way men control women and keep them down is the same way monarchies keep their subjects down

o       she called out Enlightenment thinkers that opposed despots but wanted women “kept in their place”

-         died giving birth to a daughter- Mary Wollstonecraft-Shelly - who later wrote Frankenstein

 

Society- for the most part, the Enlightenment only affected the upper classes

-         the middle class was growing, and learning to read

o       # of books published goes up 5x in 30 yrs

o       magazines and newspapers began to be published

-         the Salon- room in wealthy person’s house

o       used for elegant parties where writers, philosophers and gov’t officials mingled

o       often hosted by women, who then had an opportunity to sway public opinion

 

Religion- attacked by many Enlightenment thinkers, but the vast majority of people found it to be very important

-         new denomination- Methodists- by John Wesley in England

o       appealed to the lower classes

o       inspired lower classes to do good works, gave them a sense of community

 

Sec 3          

Music-

Early 1700s = Bach, Handel (Hallelujah chorus)

Late 1800s = Classical – Haydn, Mozart (later Beethoven, others)

 

Politics- Enlightened Absolutism

-         monarchs tried to keep their power put rule by Enlightenment principals (be nice to the people)

-         Prussia/Russia- tried to created some reforms (more freedoms to the people) but didn’t go very far with them

-         Austria- under Joseph II made many reforms, too much too quick

o       Many changes undone after he dies

 

War!-

-         war of Austrian Succession

o       basically a big land grab

o       treaty all agree to land being returned except for Silesia taken from Austria by Prussia

-         Seven Years War-

o       Austria mad about Silesia

o       France/Austria/Russia vs. England/Prussia

o       Fought in Europe, India and America (French and Indian War)

o       In America- Canada and MS river valley owned by France

§         English colonists on E coast support England

o       Result- France loses- England is the world’s strongest colonial power

 

Sec 4

England in America-

-         England begins to tax the Am’s to help pay for the 7 Years War

-         Colonists made they have no say in it

-         Declaration of Ind 7/4/1776

o       Gets help from France b/c they hate Eng

-         Colonists win

 

America- 1st gov’t too weak

-         new one = Constitution, a republican democracy

-         national gov’t shares power with the states (federal system)

-         Bill of Rights- people are protected from the gov’t in certain areas