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The Scientific Revolution of the Seventeenth Century
The scientific revolution (16th-18th
The Scientific Revolution of the Seventeenth Century
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As the representatives of states and acting as designers of government, the Founding Fathers invoked natural law to model and validate the institution they sought. The idea was of democracy, however, hadn't any such history of this political nature to observe. As intelligent men of property, some were versed in the highest scientific publication of the time, Isaac Newton's Principia. The Age of Reason, as this time was often labeled, praised the ideas of science and the human ability of cognition. The previous science would have relied on extensive survey to estimate the measure of the earth, scientists and mathematicians of the Age of Reason used complex calculations with quill and paper. Science and the Founding Fathers illustrates the men and the Age in which they were involved. I. Bernard Cohen was awarded the first doctorate as a historian of science. In his book, there are four profiles of the founding fathers: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and James Madison. They are the best examples of a science thought lending to democratic design.
Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were scientists and politicians, great contributions in both areas. The Fathers Madison and Adams were students taught of Newtonian sciences and scientific methodology approaches to human problems. Their political careers brought the teachings of science to their push for a democratic nation and lead it with science values. However, sometimes due to their brief study of concepts Newton discovered, James and John misinterpret the nature of the science and misuse the laws of nature. Cohen describes the idea that science concepts and politics can have negative transferability. Benjamin Franklin's scientific experiments on electric current were a crowning achievement of the Age of Reason, the Age in which humans could rely on themselves to exist and protect themselves from danger and benefit from the forces. The lightning rod, or "Franklin rod" during the time, became the exemplary product. This became a political debate when deciding whether the shape the rods on top of buildings ought to be pointed or round-balled. Superstition of the councils and political opponents believed that the rods had invoked lightning and was retribution for playing with the forces of nature. Cohen asserts that because of the importance these four individuals placed on the sciences that the constituents were of same respects.
Cohen elaborates on the influence that the scientific ideas that were being comprehended at the time concerning anatomical and medical discoveries, physics, modern calculus, statistics, electricity, and others.
By the late eighteenth century, the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason as it was called had begun to rapidly spread across Europe. People began believing in the ideals of popular government, the centrality of economics to politics, secularism, and progress. This cultural movement was sparked by intellectuals and commonwealth thinkers such as the influential writer John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton, both who emphasized the fact that man, by the use of reason, would be able to solve all of his problems-whether it be problems with the government, morals or the society. However, these ideals weren’t just limited to the European nations where they had first begun. On the other side of the world, off in the United States, American intellectuals began to reason with these ideas as well. As a result, the influence on the profound of modern economic and political thought had a huge impact on the United States, resulting in one of the most important documents in known in American history; the Constitution.
It was established for the United States to have a document based foundation for the country to be run on. These Enlightenment thinkers got our founding fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington all questioning God, Nature and Society. John Locke inspired our founding fathers to state in the document that all power should lie within out people. John Locke believed all people should have right to choose their leader. Montesquieu’s idea was also used in the United States Constitution. Montesquieu believed in the power of checks and balances, which means that not one branch of government gets too much power. Rousseau’s ideas were also presented in the United States Constitution. Rousseau’s idea was that all people get to vote for the president and congressmen. Other Enlightenment thinkers also have an influence on the United Sates Constitution. Voltaire’s ideas were also used he believed in religious freedom. The final thinker that is present in the structured law today is Cesare Beccaria. Beccaria believed that the accused have rights and that torture is unjust
The men who wrote the American constitution agreed with Thomas Hobbes that humans were naturally evil. Therefore, they agreed that in order to prevent a dictatorship or monarchy, the citizens should have influence in the government. The writers wanted a more ideal constitution, but they realized evil human motives would never change. One of the main goals of the constitution was to create a balanced government that would allow the citizens to prevent each other from being corrupt. The writers wanted to give citizens liberty, but they did not want to give people so much liberty that they would have an uncontrollable amount of power. The writers agreed that a citizen’s influence in government would be proportionate to that individual’s property.
The English Enlightenment represented innovation in technology, advancement of communication, and the destruction of absolutism, all of which significantly affected American culture. Scientific discoveries in Europe, mainly cultivated by Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus, served as the pinnacles of scientific rationalism, or the science that provides answers to questions reached through human inquiry, not scriptures of the Bible. These findings went completely against religious ideals of the era, one example being the discovery of craters on the moon, which proved that all things created by God are not perfect. The printing press allowed scientific ideas to be effectively spread across the world. The upset of religion by science extended throughout Europe, into Britain, and eventually to the American colonies. As religious beliefs were replaced by scientific fact, universities in North America grew and became secular. In Europe, absolute monarchs were ousted and established churches were denied the right to have hierarchical power. The rise of science was reflected by new political ideas as well. Montesquieu’s Spirit of the Laws, Rousseau’s The Social Contract, and John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government justified the ostracism of absolute monarchs through the principle of government based on social contracts, not divine rights. The social contract was created to protect what Locke described as the Natural Rights of Man- life, liberty, and pr...
From a young age, he was extremely smart. His intelligence is shown in his many inventions such as his experiment in electricity. One of Franklins greatest electricity experiment was the kite. The kite was made out of two strips of cedar which reached to the corners of a thin handkerchief. The kite was raised with a tail, loop and a string with a sharp pointed wire, rising a foot above the wood. When thunder clouds come over the kite, the wire will draw electric fire from the kite. Franklin found pleasure in science and wanted to educate his citizens as well as himself on electricity Another great invention that Franklin created was the lightening rod. The lightening rod was a small rod, about three to four feet which stuck out of the ground and the other side was about six to eight feet, which would be placed on the highest part of the building. When the lightening hit the rod, it would be conducted to the ground through the wire which would prevent a fire and create electricity. Through these inventions, it is shown how Benjamin Franklin proved his greatness by tampering with electricity which can be a very difficult thing to
The growth of a new nation can be a great struggle. Our founding struggled to form a perfect nation through the enactments of The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution, and also The Federalist Papers. They struggled to make a document that they could depend on in times of need, and the constitution was the one that really set the line and challenged the government to near perfection. Something can never be perfect that's why the federalist papers were created to enhance the constitution and make it something very close to perfect. All of these essays under the federalist papers were very important building blocks that helped us become the great nation that we are now.
...is mistakes and let go of any self-resentment, in the eyes of his son. Though these arguments appear as rebellious against Benjamin Franklin’s hubris or self-endowment, it can also be said that these elements helped fuel his ambition and lead to great discoveries. If Franklin’s infatuation with self-betterment was arguably responsible the creation of so many necessities and components of society today, then no criticism can be dished out – Franklin deals with enough inner critique as it is.
One thunderous afternoon on June 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted what is known today as the “Kite Experiment”. He wanted to prove that if one object was electrical, the energy from that object could be transferred to another object, therefore being classified as electricity and lightning. With his son William, Ben took a string and attached the kite to it, then he attached an iron key to the kite. Next, they tied a thin metal wire from the key and put the wire inside a Leyden jar which stored all the electrical charge. His experiment profitably showed that his accusations were correct. Many other scientist tried the same experiment and were electrocuted, but Ben Franklin was the lucky one. He changed the world of science.
... and make a conclusion. Ben’s goal was to conduct electricity and extract an electrical charge. Once the storm came, he attached a key to a kite and flew it in the air, after the first strike on his key, Ben was then aware that lightning is indeed a form of electricity. After this, Ben then began to devise many different types of lighting rods. Today, Benjamin Franklin's lightning rods could soon be seen on top of many buildings and homes serving to protect from dangerous lightning strikes.
Though best known as a literary figure, Henry Thoreau showed a lasting interest in science. He read widely in the scientific literature of his day and published one the first scholarly discussions on forest succession. In fact, some historians rate Thoreau as one of the founders of the modern science of ecology. At the same time, Thoreau often lamented science’s tendency to kill poetry. Scientific writings coupled with his own careful observations often revealed life to him, but in other ways rendered nature lifeless. Modern-day Thoreauvians are also aware that science has largely become a tool for control and increased consumption, rather than for the appreciation and protection of wild nature. This paper explores some of Thoreau’s reflections on science and "system," and presents his view of the proper role of science in our lives. As will become clear, Thoreau’s worries are occasioned by his own scientific endeavors. His responses to science’s insufficiencies are reformist, suggesting ways to improve and supplement science rather than discard it.
The United States government was formed based on one thing—the science of man. Many different psychological and political theories are founded on the basis that there is an actual science of human beings. The ideas and theories of Hobbes, Locke, Roseau, and Montesque all contributed to the formation and compellation of our governmental structure, among others. In fact, they all agreed on one principle; man in a pure state of nature can be analyzed and theorized. The conclusions of all were vastly different, some even directly contradicting. But regardless of the opposition in belief, the result of their collective writings was the government we now live under today.
During the birth of the new nation, the Founding Fathers sought to construct a system of checks and balances which were catalyzed by the common fear of tyrannical government and based upon the ideologies of the Enlightenment. In 1787, while the infant nation was wobbling on the weak footings of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention was adjourned and disputes around power and representation mustered new plans for the future. Although the Convention intended to revise and rework the Articles, James Madison, alongside...
The basis of political views of Benjamin Franklin is the concept of the natural and inalienable rights of an individual. Franklin attributes life, liberty, and property to such natural rights. According to Benjamin Franklin, a man is simply “a tool-making animal,” a creature, whose freedom and, thus, independence is limited (Houston 45). In his Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain, Benjamin Franklin put the statement that every...
The Scientific Revolution was sparked through Nicolaus Copernicusí unique use of mathematics. His methods developed from Greek astr...
Over the course of the years, society has been reformed by new ideas of science. We learn more and more about global warming, outer space, and technology. However, this pattern of gaining knowledge did not pick up significantly until the Scientific Revolution. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the Scientific Revolution started, which concerned the fields of astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. These new scientists used math and observations strongly contradicting religious thought at the time, which was dependent on the Aristotelian-Ptolemy theory. However, astronomers like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton accepted the heliocentric theory. Astronomical findings of the Scientific Revolution disproved the fact that humans were the center of everything, ultimately causing people to question theology’s role in science and sparking the idea that people were capable of reasoning for themselves.