AP Euro Unit 4 Vocab

Scientific Revolution

The intellectual movement in Europe, initially associated with planetary motion and other aspects of physics, that by the seventeenth century had laid the groundwork for modern science.

Geocentric Model

A model of the solar system in which all planets revolve around the Earth

Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer and mathematician who was the first to use a telescope to study the stars and to use observations to prove heliocentric theory.

Rene Decartes

Wrote Discourse on Method; "I think, therefore I am" --using deductive reasoning, using a general statement and applying strict logic to draw conclusions.

Thomas Hobbes

Believed that people are born selfish and need a strong ruler to control them, first to propose the idea of a Social Contract.

Voltaire

French philosopher and writer whose works epitomize the Age of Enlightenment, often attacking injustice and intolerance. Big on free speech.

Deism

Belief that God is a watchmaker; God existed and had created the world, but that afterwards He left it to run by its own natural laws.

Montesquieu

French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers. Wrote The Spirit of Laws

Lassez-faire

Hands off economy, the government does not interfere in the economy

Frederick II (The Great)

aggressive in foreign affairs. Used military to increase power. Encouraged religious tolerance and legal reform.

Edict of Toleration

issued by Joseph II, which extended religious toleration to protestants and Jews in Austria

Isaac Newton

Defined the laws of motion and gravity. Tried to explain motion of the universe.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who proposed a heliocentric model of the universe in 1500s

Heliocentric Model

Model in which all of the plantets revolved around the Sun, developed by Copernicus

Francis Bacon

developed the scientific method and inductive reasoning (make observations and use that to come to general conclusions).

The Enlightenment

an 18th Century movement that emphasized using logic and reason as guides to solve the world's problems.

Social Contract

An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the book Wealth of Nations. He is the main proponent of what would become known as Capitalism.

Atheism

Belief in no God

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy. Wrote The Social Contract

Enlightened Absolutism

absolute monarchy where rulers were not selected by divine right, rather a social contract, and they reformed based on Enlightenment principles

Maria Theresa

Empress of Austria who mandated children 6-12 go to school and implemented Enlightenment reforms but rejected its intellectual and religious freedoms

Mary Wollstonecraft

British feminist of the eighteenth century who argued for women's equality with men, even in voting, in her 1792 "Vindication of the Rights of Women."

Emile du Chatelet

translated Newton’s Principia into French, showed her language, math, and science knowledge