Unit 4 Scientists and Enlightenment Thinkers

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who challenged the medieval geocentric view by proposing a heliocentric (sun-centered) universe.

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer and mathematician who discovered that planets move in elliptical orbits rather than perfect circles.

Galileo Galilei

Italian astronomer who used the telescope to observe celestial bodies, supporting the heliocentric model and facing trial by the Inquisition.

Francis Bacon

English lawyer and philosopher who pioneered empiricism and inductive reasoning, advocating for knowledge built on observation and experimentation.

René Descartes

French philosopher and mathematician who championed rationalism and deductive reasoning, famous for the principle "I think, therefore I am."

Isaac Newton

English physicist and mathematician who formulated the universal law of gravitation and synthesized the Scientific Revolution.

Paracelsus

Swiss physician and scientist who pioneered revolutionary theories of disease and chemical remedies in medicine.

Andreas Vesalius

Dutch anatomist who revolutionized the study of human anatomy through meticulous dissections and detailed publications.

William Harvey

English physician who discovered the circulation of blood through the body and the function of the heart as a pump.

Thomas Hobbes

English political philosopher who argued in Leviathan that humans are naturally selfish and require an absolute monarch for social order.

John Locke

English philosopher who argued that humans possess natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that governments derive their power from a social contract.

Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet)

Leading French philosophe who fiercely advocated for religious tolerance, freedom of speech, and satirical critiques of the Catholic Church.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Philosophe who wrote The Social Contract and argued that legitimate political authority rests on the general will of the people.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Prominent English feminist philosopher who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, advocating for equal education and rights for women.

Denis Diderot

French philosophe who edited the massive Encyclopédie, which compiled and spread Enlightenment thinking across Europe.

Montesquieu

French political philosopher who advocated for the separation of powers into three branches of government to prevent tyranny.

Cesare Beccaria

Italian jurist and philosopher who sparked criminal justice reform by arguing against torture and capital punishment in On Crimes and Punishments.

Marquis de Condorcet

French mathematician, philosophe, and early champion of human rights, racial equality, and women's rights.

Baron d'Holbach

French-German philosopher known for his strictly materialistic and atheist worldview presented in The System of Nature.

David Hume

Scottish Enlightenment philosopher known for radical skepticism, arguing that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience and questioning religious dogmas.

John Wesley

English clergyman who founded Methodism, emphasizing deep personal piety and emotional spiritual revival against deistic rationalism.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist and physiocrat who defended capitalism, free markets, and the "invisible hand" in The Wealth of Nations.

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot

French economist and statesman who advocated for free-market reforms and physiocrat economic policies under Louis XVI.

Frederick William I

Prussian monarch known for militarism, administrative efficiency, and building up the formidable Prussian army.

Frederick II (the Great)

Enlightened absolute monarch of Prussia who promoted religious tolerance, legal reforms, and agricultural improvements while expanding territory.

Maria Theresa

Austrian Habsburg empress who centralized state administration, taxed the nobility, and improved education and conditions for peasants.

Joseph II

Enlightened absolute monarch of Austria who abolished serfdom, granted wide religious toleration, and introduced sweeping legal reforms.

John Amos Comenius

17th-century Czech educator who developed early systems of universal education and modern pedagogical methods.

Samuel Richardson

18th-century English writer whose epistolary novels contributed to the rise of the domestic novel and consumer culture in literature.

Jane Austen

Renowned English novelist whose works reflected 18th- and early 19th-century social structures, marriage, and domestic life.

Johann Sebastian Bach

German Baroque composer known for complex, deeply spiritual, and structured musical compositions.

George Frideric Handel

Baroque composer famous for grand, public musical works like the Messiah.

Diego Velásquez

Spanish Baroque painter known for masterpieces like Las Meninas, capturing realistic court life and complex perspectives.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Italian Baroque sculptor and architect whose dynamic works merged emotion, movement, and theatricality.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Dutch Golden Age master painter famous for profound psychological depth, brilliant use of light and shadow, and realistic portraits.

Johannes Vermeer

Dutch Baroque painter celebrated for exquisite, intimate domestic interior scenes and mastery of natural light.

Jacques-Louis David

Neoclassical French painter whose heroic works celebrated classical antiquity and supported the ideals of the French Revolution.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Classical composer who produced an immense catalog of timeless symphonic, operatic, and chamber music.

Daniel Defoe

English writer and journalist, author of Robinson Crusoe, reflecting the rising commercial and individualistic spirit of the era.

Henry Fielding

English novelist known for pioneering realistic comic fiction and social satire in the 18th century.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

German literary giant whose works bridged Enlightenment rationalism and the early Sturm und Drang romantic movement.