Chapter 16: The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major figures, scientific discoveries, philosophical concepts, and political developments of the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and Enlightened Absolutism from Chapter 16.

Natural Philosophy

An early modern discipline focused on fundamental questions regarding the nature, structure, and operation of the universe.

Ptolemaic System

A 2nd-century Hellenistic astronomical model positing that planets move in small circles (epicycles), which in turn move along larger circular orbits around a motionless Earth.

Copernican Hypothesis

The astronomical theory published by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 proposing a heliocentric universe with the sun at the center, implying the universe was massive and that the Earth was merely one of many rotating planets.

Tycho Brahe

A Danish nobleman and Europe's leading astronomer who compiled twenty years of meticulous planetary observations, arguing that all planets except Earth revolve around the sun while the sun and planets revolve around the Earth.

Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion

Three astronomical principles demonstrating that planetary orbits are elliptical rather than circular, planetary speed varies non-uniformly based on distance from the sun, and orbital time is mathematically related to solar distance.

Law of Inertia

Galileo Galilei's physical principle establishing that rest is not an object's natural state, and an object in motion continues moving forever unless acted upon by an external force.

Galileo Galilei

A Florentine scientist who pioneered the experimental method, discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter with an improved telescope, and was tried and placed under house arrest by the Inquisition for defending Copernicanism.

Law of Universal Gravitation

Isaac Newton's synthesis stating that every body in the universe attracts every other body in a precise mathematical relationship proportional to mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

Empiricism

An inductive approach to scientific inquiry, formalized by Francis Bacon, that calls for acquiring knowledge through direct observation and systematic experimentation rather than speculative deductive reasoning.

Cartesian Dualism

René Descartes's philosophical stance reducing all physical reality into two fundamental substances: mind (thinking, immaterial substance) and matter (extended, physical substance).

Humoral Theory

The ancient medical theory originating with Galen asserting that human health depends on the balance of four humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.

Andreas Vesalius

A 16th-century Flemish physician who revolutionized anatomical study through systematic dissection of human cadavers, publishing 'On the Structure of the Human Body' in 1543.

William Harvey

An English royal physician who discovered in 1628 that blood circulates through veins and arteries and that the human heart functions as a muscular pump.

Boyle's Law

A principle formulated by Robert Boyle in 1662 stating that the pressure of a given quantity of gas varies inversely with its volume at a constant temperature ($P \propto \frac{1}{V}$).

Deductive Reasoning

A logical process championed by Descartes that starts with a general rule, law, or premise and applies it to a specific case to achieve guaranteed certainty.

Inductive Reasoning

A logical process emphasized by Bacon that starts with specific empirical observations, data points, or experiments and builds broader general theories offering probable truths.

Skepticism

A philosophical outlook advanced by Pierre Bayle in his 'Historical and Critical Dictionary' (1697), arguing that human beliefs are varied and fallible, meaning nothing can ever be known beyond all doubt.

Monism

Baruch Spinoza's philosophy stating that mind and body form a single unified substance, and that God and nature are one and the same entity.

Sensationalism

John Locke's theory from 'An Essay Concerning Human Understanding' (1690) proposing that all human ideas and knowledge derive solely from sensory experience and perception.

Philosophes

A group of French Enlightenment intellectuals who proclaimed that they brought the light of human reason to their fellow humans to reform society and eliminate ignorance.

Baron de Montesquieu

A French philosophe who authored 'The Persian Letters' (1721) to satirize European customs and 'The Spirit of Laws' (1748), which advocated the separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers.

Voltaire

The pen name of François-Marie Arouet, a French writer who championed English political institutions, attacked religious intolerance and the Catholic Church, and believed an enlightened monarch was the best political reformer.

Madame du Châtelet

A French noblewoman, scientist, and long-time companion of Voltaire who published scientific articles and produced the only complete French translation and commentary of Newton's 'Principia'.

Encyclopedia: The Rational Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts

A 17-volume work edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert that gathered knowledge from diverse contributors to criticize dogmatism and transform society's way of thinking.

General Will

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's political concept in 'The Social Contract' (1762) defining the sovereign, collective interest of all citizens, distinct from the mere numerical majority will.

Scottish Enlightenment

An intellectual movement centered in Edinburgh that emphasized common sense, empirical scientific reasoning, and practical economic and social improvements.

Cesare Beccaria

An Italian jurist whose 1764 treatise 'On Crimes and Punishments' argued for the prevention of crime over retribution and condemned the use of torture, arbitrary imprisonment, and capital punishment.

Reading Revolution

The 18th-century cultural shift from the traditional practice of reading a narrow set of religious texts aloud to individual, silent, and diverse consumption of broad secular print materials.

Salons

Regular, elegant social gatherings hosted primarily by wealthy, talented Parisian women (salonnieres) where philosophes and elites met to debate literature, science, and philosophy.

Public Sphere

An idealized realm of open intellectual and social interaction outside private homes—including coffeehouses, libraries, and clubs—where citizens gathered to debate politics, economics, and society.

Scientific Racism

The Enlightenment-era practice of applying natural taxonomy and scientific classification systems (e.g., Linnaeus, Kant) to invent biological and racial hierarchies justifying slavery and European superiority.

Abbé Raynal

A French writer who published 'History of the Two Indies' (1770), strongly condemning the brutality of European colonial expansion and the transatlantic slave trade.

Enlightened Absolutism

A governing framework in which 18th-century absolute monarchs adopted Enlightenment principles of rational reform, religious tolerance, and administrative modernization while retaining absolute royal rule.

Cameralism

The German political doctrine adopted by Frederick the Great asserting that monarchy is the optimal form of government, and all societal resources must be managed rationally for the public good.

Frederick the Great

The Hohenzollern ruler of Prussia (r. 1740–1786) who seized Silesia from Austria, simplified Prussian laws, abolished judicial torture, patronized scholars, and governed as 'the first servant of the state.'

Catherine the Great

Empress of Russia (r. 1762–1796) who seized power from Peter III, westernized Russian culture, patronized French philosophes, expanded Russian borders, and strengthened noble dominion over serfs.

Pugachev's Rebellion

A massive 1773 peasant and Cossack insurrection led by Emelian Pugachev against Russian nobility that resulted in Catherine the Great terminating rural reforms and expanding serfdom.

Partitions of Poland

The three diplomatic divisions (1772, 1793, 1795) by which Russia, Prussia, and Austria annexed and ultimately erased the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the map of Europe.

Joseph II

The radical Austrian Habsburg monarch (r. 1780–1790) who abolished serfdom, mandated cash payments instead of labor duties, and imposed radical religious toleration before his policies were overturned by Leopold II.

Haskalah

The 18th-century Jewish Enlightenment movement led by Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn that advocated for Jewish integration, civil rights, and religious toleration.

Pale of Settlement

The restricted geographic territory established by Catherine the Great in 1791 within which the Jewish population of the Russian Empire was legally mandated to reside.