SCI - Religion, Magic & Science, Effects of Reformation & Scientific Revolution on Society (Lesson)

Religion, Magic & Science, Effects of Reformation & Scientific Revolution on Society.

Royal Society.

Begun in 1640, the Invisible College met to exchange information and discuss work. There was only one well-known, and well-respected scientist in the bunch, Robert Boyle. Boyle later joined 11 others in 1660 to form the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. In 1662, the Royal Society was chartered by Charles II and is highly influenced by Bacon.

It soon became a clearinghouse for research. In 1665, the Society published the first Scientific Journal, Philosophical Transactions. The French, Germans, and Italians soon imitated.

 

Science and the Masses.

Science led to improvements in planned gardens, warfare, and fortifications. By the middle of the 17th century, the new science was spreading and gaining more popularity. Monarchs built observatories, laboratories for chemists, and colleges for physicians.

Aristocrats soon began "playing" at science, including having observatories added to country estates.

Public lessons were popular, though usually geared towards women as women were seen as "blank slates" and easier to convince.

Public lectures were sold out for everything from public dissections to Leyden Jar (a jar which stores a high-voltage electric charge) demonstrations to Anton Mesmer's mesmerizing/hypnosis.

Although the Scientific Revolution began by only affecting the scientific and intellectual elite (about 5% of the population), the concepts that originated during this time eventually spread to all of the population.

 

Social Patterns and Popular Culture During the Scientific Revolution.

Population decreased after the 16th century. In the 17th century, population began to rise again, leading to overcrowding in the cities, bigger armies, increased crime, more taxation, and beggars. Also, during the Scientific Revolution, social status became mobile as it became based on wealth and education as opposed to family heritage. The emphasis on education led to a higher literacy rate, which led to the start of newspapers and increased book sales. Women also gained opportunities in business and education, as many of the new tools for science were marketed towards them.

In the East, peasants were reduced to serfdom, and in the West, many were forced to go into the cities in search of a job which meant village unity decreased because of increased population and national intervention for law enforcement. In villages, ancient traditions held fast, for example, the belief in magic and the yearly festivals such as Charivari. As in Calvinism, villagers felt they couldn't control their own destiny, which in turn led to the witch hunts that eventually subsided when the Scientific Revolution and Counter Reformation ideals finally spread to the village. 

 

Women and Science.

Women as Patrons.

Emilie du Chatelet, is perhaps best known as Voltaire's lover and patron. The daughter of a French aristocrat, she had access to excellent tutors and was highly educated. Her main talents were in math and science. She translated the works of Newton (Principia) from Latin into French and it is still the leading translation today. Why is this impressive? Well, in order for it to be translated correctly, correctly enough to still be the translation used 400 years later, it requires her to not only have a fluency in Latin, but also have a complete understanding of the scientific principles being discussed.

Women as Scientists.

Margaret Cavendish, a noblewoman Duchess of Newcastle, debated issues and wrote observations on experimental philosophy. Her book, Grounds of Natural Philosophy criticized the defects she saw in rationalism, and the growing belief that, through science, humans would be masters of nature. She was excluded from the Royal Society.

Women as Aides.

Marie-Anne Lavoisier assisted her husband, Antoine Lavoisier, in his chemistry laboratory in Paris (pictured, right). She translated works on chemistry from English into French for her husband and sketched out his experiments, which allowed later scientists an understanding of his methods. Her sketches and records provided validation when he published his findings in the book: Elementary Treatise on Chemistry. She is perhaps most colorfully remembered for translating the Essay on Phlogiston and the Constitution of Acids. Phlogiston was a theoretical fire-like element which is gained or released during a material's combustion. When completing the translation, she made notes in the work and ultimately pointed out the errors in the chemical equations and assumptions. It was these errors that ultimately led Antoine Lavoisier to discover oxygen gas.

Maria Winklemann was educated by her father and uncle. She married Gottfried Kirsh who was a leading German astronomer. She became his assistant and ultimately discovered a comet.

Caroline Herschel was German as well, but worked with her brother in England. She helped create a star catalogue and discovered numerous comets. When her brother died, her nephew took over the observatory in name, but in reality she was the one running the observations and experiments. Denied admittance to the Royal Society during the majority of her career, she was eventually admitted late in her life.

Women as Audience.

Women were seen as easier to convince then men, thus many of the scientific instruments and lectures were marketed towards women. It was not uncommon to see an image of a woman and her daughter using scales when advertising for that product. Books were sold to women and eventually a market of science books FOR women began to boom (Botany for Women, etc.) Women did, in fact, attend many lectures adding to their interest in science. Ultimately the focus on women led to increased education opportunities for women where previously they had been ignored.

 

The Effects of the Scientific Revolution.

People felt that human understanding of the universe could be reduced to mathematical laws, thus the universe no longer appeared to be a mystery. Instead, many felt that it was orderly, rational, and, most importantly, could be understood by humans. In turn, this led people to believe that humans were able to control their own destiny.

The concept of natural laws developed. These laws, which were similar to the laws found in science by Newton, could govern other aspects of life as well, such as economics, politics, or ethics. Science gained wider appeal and unprecedented popularity. Additionally, science was institutionalized, and scientific societies sprung up throughout Europe, on both the national and local level. These institutions greatly helped the rate of progress.

Positive effects:

• gaining of knowledge
• greater toleration (both religious and scientific)
• less superstition and more scientific answers
• freedom to deviate from established theories, which opened the door for new, further developments

Negative effects:

• loss of innocence
• loss of traditional faith
• loss of faith in heaven
• earth is no longer regarded as the center (thus man's importance is questioned)
• skepticism
• loss of personal/caring God

Overall, however, this was an era of optimism that gave way to an Age of Reason in the 18th century. People living during the Scientific Revolution felt that they had surpassed even the ancients and were at the peak of human knowledge, and ideas of progress dominated intellectual discussions.

 

 

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