Enlightenment: Period in 1600-1700 Europe when education and knowledge was restored.

Also called The Age of Reason

Causes of the Age of Reason

Increased Trade from CrusadesKnowledge from the EastThe Invention of the Printing PressGrowth of CitiesMiddle Class

The Invention of the Printing Press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg

By 1700, the following cities were up over 100,000: London (England), Rome (Italy), Seville (Spain), Antwerp(Belgium), Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Palermo (Italy).

London had 500,000; Paris (France) was nearly as large.

Middle Class: Merchants, traders, bankers and skilled craftsworkers (artisans)

Bourgeoisie

The Greek Astronomer, Ptolemy taught GEOCENTRISM

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) a Polish astronomer, was best known for his theory that the Sun is at the center of the universe, and that the Earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves yearly around the Sun. This is called the heliocentric, or Sun-centered, system.

Before Copernicus theory, astronomers believed in Ptolemys geocentric universe in which the Earth was motionless at the center of several rotating spheres. These spheres contained (in order from the earth outward) the following heavenly bodies: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The outermost sphere contained the other stars.

Copernicus's theory looked at the universe in a very different way. He believed the Earth rotates daily on its axis, and it revolves yearly around the Sun. More importantly, he argued that the planets also circled the Sun.

Galileo (1564-1642) was an Italian astronomer who, with the German astronomer Johannes Kepler, began the scientific revolution that led to the successful works of the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton.

Galileos main contributions to astronomy were the use of the telescope in observation and the discovery of sunspots, mountains and valleys on the moon, the four largest moons of Jupiter, and the phases of Venus.

By December 1609, Galileo had built a telescope that magnified objects 20 times their real size. He used it to discover mountains and craters on the moon. He also saw that the Milky Way was composed of stars, and he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. By December 1610 he had observed the phases of Venus, which disagreed with Ptolemys theory of the earth at the center of the universe and helped support Copernicus theory that the sun was at the center.

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

I. Newtons' First Law of MotionEvery object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

II.Newton's Second Law of Motion

The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma.

III. Newton's Third Law of Motion

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.