Galileo: The Age Of Enlightenment And The Enlightenment

The age of Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which included a broad scope of ideas based on reason as the primary source of legitimacy during the eighteenth century. Ideals such as liberty, tolerance, constitutional government, and the separation of church and state were introduced and progressed. The age of enlightenment was preceded by and closely related to the scientific revolution. Scientific discoveries challenged the traditional thought patterns about the world. Galileo, an Italian mathematician and philosopher, played a major role in the scientific revolution around the seventeenth century. Galileo firmly believed one could accept the teachings of the bible and new scientific discoveries simultaneously. The church, however, was unwilling to accept new ideas in fear of science changing their whole belief system. The letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany written in 1615 was Galileo’s attempt to resolve the tension between religion and science; his letter intended to sway people who doubted science towards becoming receptive about new discoveries.

In the seventeenth century, religion

Great thinkers after Galileo during the Enlightenment such John Locke, Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu and Rousseau shaped the essence of government. As governments progressed, states became secular; the separation of church and state allowed scientists to thrive more than ever before. The financial investments governments began putting towards science led to the inventions of telescopes, microscopes and barometers which gave scientists the means to make accurate observations when conducting experiments. This radical approach to knowledge fueled advancements in anatomy, medicine, biology and