AP Euro Unit 4

Scientific Revolution

a period of drastic change in scientific thought that took place during the 16th and 17th centuries. It replaced the Greek view of nature that had dominated science for almost 2,000 years

Copernicus

proposed that the sun was stationary in the center of the universe and the earth revolved around it (Catholic and Polish)

Kepler

discovered that the Earth and planets travel about the sun in elliptical orbits (German)

Galileo

Italian scientist who formulated the basic law of falling bodies, which he verified by careful measurements (discovered four moons revolving around Jupiter and espoused the Copernican cause)

Newton

having invented the calculus in the mid to late 1660s (english)

Paracelsus

pioneered the use of minerals and other chemicals in medicine (Swiss)

Vesalius

first physicians to accurately record and illustrate human anatomy

Harvey

announced a revolutionary theory stating that blood circulates repeatedly throughout the body (English)

Bacon

devised a method whereby scientists set up experiments to manipulate nature and attempt to prove their hypotheses wrong (English)

Descartes

he could solve problems in geometry by converting them into problems in algebra (French)

Scientific Method

an emphasis on abstract reasoning, quantitative thought, an understanding of how nature works, the view of nature as a machine (used by Bacon & Newton)

Royal Society of England

founded in 1660 to bring together leading scientific minds of the day, and became an international network for practical and philosophical investigation of the physical world (an academy)

Alchemy

a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life

Astrology

study of positions of celestial (space) objects

Cavendish

he made important discoveries concerning hydrogen, carbon dioxide, atmospheric air, and water (English)

Merian

she is one of the first naturalists to have studied insects (swiss)

Winkelmann

a star of German astronomy who discovered her own comet

Telescope

17th century, crucial instrument which contributed to major beliefs of showing that Earth was not the center of the universe, as was previously believed

Printing press

community of scientists who could easily communicate their discoveries using this... + this allowed for an easier exchange of ideas and discoveries between scientists of geographical and time constraints

Renaissance humanists

promoted that humans are at the center of their own universe and should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science

Aristotle

one of the greatest of the ancient Athenian philosophers; pupil of Plato; teacher of Alexander the Great

Enlightenment

main idea: the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition

Philosophes

group of radical thinkers and writers in France in the eighteenth century, including Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; believed that the use of reason could lead to reforms of government, law, and society

Republic of Letters

long-distance intellectual community in the late 17th and 18th centuries in Europe and the Americas

Age of Reason

1 : the time of life when one begins to be able to distinguish right from wrong. 2 : a period characterized by a prevailing belief in the use of reason especially Age of Reason : the 18th century in England and France

Deism

belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe

Locke

uses a theory of natural rights to argue that governments have obligations to their citizens, have only limited powers over their citizens, and can ultimately be overthrown by citizens under certain circumstances; first "Liberal" ideologies + TABULA RASA = CLEAN SLATE

Kant

argued that we can only have knowledge of things we can experience (German)

Pietism

influential religious reform movement that began among German Lutherans in the 17th century; believed personal faith against the main Lutheran church's perceived stress on doctrine and theology over Christian living

Voltaire

believed social progress could be achieved through reason and that no authority—religious or political or otherwise—should be immune to challenge by reason (French) (wrote Candide)

Diderot

believed that the moral improvement of humanity would directly result in the progress of civilization

Montesquieu

believed the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world (French)

Rousseau

believed good laws make for good citizens (Swiss)

Wollstonecraft

women's rights activist who authored A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792 (English)

Paine

(1) independence from England and (2) the creation of a democratic republic (wrote Common Sense)

Physiocrat

group of people that had a belief that government policy should not interfere with the operation of natural economic laws and that land is the source of all wealth (creator François Quesnay)

Quesnay

among the first to analyse economic growth theory as a function of capital accumulation (French, creator of physiocrats)

Adam Smith

wrote The Wealth of Nations, believed wealth is created through productive labor, and that self-interest motivates people to put their resources to the best use

Salons

were organised gatherings hosted in private homes, usually by prominent women. Individuals who attended often discussed literature or shared their views and opinions on topics from science to politics

censorship

suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc (IMPORTANT because churches tried to do this against new scientific ideas + monarchs tried to do this to enlightenment ideas; some examples of getting around this were Voltaire's Candide which was listed as satire or as a joke BUT it still majorly critiqued the government, etc.)

Enlightened despotism

form of government in the 18th century in which absolute monarchs pursued legal, social, and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment

Robert Walpole

the first British Prime Minister

Louis XV

king of France, had expensive wars

Catherine the Great

establishing educational reform, championing the arts, and extending Russia's borders, enlightened absolutism

Joseph II

Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 until his death; He ordered the abolition of serfdom; by the Edict of Toleration he established religious equality before the law, and he granted freedom of the press

Frederick the Great

known for his military successes in the Silesian wars, his re-organisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment

Agricultural Revolution

the period in Europe from the mid-17th through the mid 19th centuries; fallow method of farming was eliminated. New inventions such as the seed drill and the steel plow made farming easier and faster.

Enclosure movement

a push in the 18th and 19th centuries to take land that had formerly been owned in common by all members of a village, or at least available to the public for grazing animals and growing food, and change it to privately owned land, usually with walls, fences or hedges around it

Charles Townshend

British chancellor of the Exchequer whose measures for the taxation of the British American colonies intensified the hostilities that eventually led to the American Revolution

Rococo art

combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama

Neoclassicism art

an aesthetic attitude based on the art of Greece and Rome in antiquity, which invokes harmony, clarity, restraint, universality, and idealism

Microscope

helped further development into seeing disease-causing micro-organisms

Galen

Greek anatomist whose theories formed the basis of European medicine until the Renaissance

absolutism

sovereignty (authority) rests in king who claims divine rights (chosen by god)