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Unit 11: Essay Questions Question 1: The New Astronomy | |
Read the selections by Copernicus and Galileo. Why were the discoveries made by these two men so important for the birth of modern scientific thought? What methods did Copernicus and Galileo use in their investigations? What were the implications (both scientific and political) of their writings? Can we call their discoveries a "revolution"? | |
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| doc. 1 Copernicus on the Earth's Revolution | |
| doc. 2 The Starry Messenger | |
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| Question 2: A Revolution in Thought? | |
What methods of inquiry did Bacon, Descartes, and Newton advocate in their writings? Compare the ideas expressed in these writings. How did these three men advance notions that can be termed "modern"? Do you find Shapin or Dear more convincing in their summaries of the Scientific Revolution? | |
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| doc. 1 Bacon on the New Science | |
| doc. 2 "I Think, Therefore I Am" | |
| doc. 3 Newton's Principles | |
| doc. 4 No Revolution | |
| doc. 5 Revolutionizing Science | |
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| Question 3: What Was the Enlightenment? | |
| Immanuel Kant claimed that "enlightenment is man's leaving his self-caused immaturity," and stated that mankind needed the freedom to make reason public to achieve enlightenment. Using Kant's essay as a starting point, what do you think the central concepts of the Enlightenment were? How did philosophers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Voltaire characterize their age and its goals? Give some examples of how their writings still have relevance today. | |
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| doc. 1 Will We Ever Grow Up? | |
| doc. 2 The Spirit of Intolerance | |
| doc. 3 Forced to Be Free! | |
| doc. 4 Candide | |
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| Question 4: How Do Events Shape Intellectual Debates? | |
The three documents below each reveal how certain events in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries shaped the intellectual debates of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. What does Bayle say about the reactions to the comets of the 1680s? How does he use these reactions to advance the findings of his contemporary scientists? How did the Lisbon earthquake affect Voltaire and Rousseau? What conclusions did the two philosophes reach about God, man, and nature in the wake of this event? | |
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| doc. 1 Bayle Ridicules Some Superstitions Circulating About Comets | |
| doc. 2 A Just Complaint | |
| doc. 3 Nature Much Less Cruel than Man | |
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