2- The wider intellectual context: the coming of the age of science and reason

Question 1

Newton

Answer 1

-Principa Mathematica
-important break from mindset of Middle Ages
-completed Mathematics of Natural Philosophy
-proved Kepler’s laws of planetary motion
HOWEVER, still believed in magic and practiced alchemy

Question 2

Kepler

Answer 2

-encouraged people to look for natural causes moving away from witchcraft
-model for solar system developed understanding, scientists built on his work
HOWEVER, still widespread beliefs of superstition, i.e members of the Royal Society still believed

Question 3

Galileo

Answer 3

-work published in multiple languages
-ensured maths approach to natural phenomena was used- didn’t believe in god explanations
HOWEVER, not supported by elites, witchcraft act repeated in 1736- slow

Question 4

Gresham College

Answer 4

Was founded to establish a permanent organisation that would be responsible for research in the mathematical sciences

Astronomy and geometry, two fields that were essential for understanding the workings of the Earth and the rest of the universe were not fully recognised until professorships were created at Gresham

Question 5

Royal Society

Answer 5

-Very well respected
-Many natural philosophers, many from Gresham, organised an invisible college to develop interest in experimental investigation

Met once a week and its membership included men from all areas of intellectual study- John Locke, Samuel Pepys, John Dryden and the Earl of Sandwich

Followed Bacon’s method in all area of intellectual endeavour- made it extremely well respected

Those who were genuinely engaged in pushing the boundaries of science did so through the Society

Question 6

Francis Bacon

Answer 6

Novum Organum 1620
Collected evidence in order to formulate theories through an emphasis on inductive rather than deductive reasoning- which is when reasoning its based on evidence allowing for an original hypothesis to be proved false

After his death in 1926, scientists attempted to emulate his Baconian method and the empirical nature of his work was developed by philosophers such as John Locke

Heavily influenced the Royal Society where his work was revisited and emulated

Question 7

Hobbes

Answer 7

Used to be the secretary of Francis Bacon
Disagreed with Bacon’s deductive reasoning

Influence writers such as John Webster and Balthasar Becker and John Holt to approach witchcraft cases with a rational mindset

Question 8

Locke

Answer 8

Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1690- dismissed beliefs in the supernatural

Only after the Glorious Revolution that the majority of his books were published

Seen as the father of modern empiricism as he sought to make his conclusions only through experience or through observing experiences of others