During the 1500s and 1600s, advances in the field of science transformed society. This Scientific Revolution laid the foundation for modern-day science and medicine. The emphasis on science and reason employed by scientists during the Scientific Revolution directly influenced Enlightenment philosophers. New theories about the role of man and government were developed during the Enlightenment, which impacted how some monarchs, like the enlightened despot Catherine the Great, ruled their nations. The Enlightenment influenced revolutions around the world, like the American and French Revolutions. The Enlightenment influenced artists, writers, and led to new technologies.
Example of a French Salon - Anicet Charles Gabriel Lemonnier
The picture shows a gathering of distinguished guests in the drawing-room of French hostess Marie-Thérèse
Rodet Geoffrin (1699-1777) who is seated on the right. There is a bust of Voltaire in the background.
Pre-Assessment
In this activity, see how many of the artists, scientists, and philosophers of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment you already know. Drag the name of each of these important people into the correct column according to their profession. Click the player to get started.
Key Vocabulary
To view the definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.
Age of Reason | Jean-Jacques Rousseau | natural rights |
Agricultural Revolution | Johann Sebastian Bach | Nicolaus Copernicus |
Bastille | Johannes Kepler | Reign of Terror |
Catherine the Great | John Locke | scientific method |
Declaration of the Rights of Man | Louis XVI | Second Estate |
deficit spending | Marie Antoinette | The Social Contract |
enlightened despot | Maximilian Robespierre | Third Estate |
Enlightenment | Miguel de Cervantes | Thomas Hobbes |
Estates General | Montesquieu | Thomas Jefferson |
Eugene Delacroix | Napoleon | U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights |
First Estate | National Assembly | Voltaire |
Galileo Galilei | nationalism | William Harvey |
heliocentric theory | natural laws | Wolfgang Mozart |
Isaac Newton |