Check your understanding of this chapter
by answering the following questions.
- Contrast the old Aristotelian-medieval
world-view with that of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. What were
the contributions of Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton? What
is meant by Newton’s “synthesis”?
- What were the scientific and religious
implications of Copernicus’s theory?
- How did Bacon and Descartes contribute
to the development of the modern scientific method?
- What were the consequences of the rise
of modern science?
- Who were the philosophes, and what
did they believe?
- What was the effect of Catherine’s
reign on (a) the Russian nobility, (b) the Russian serfs, and (c) the position
of Russia in the European balance of power?
- Discuss the ideas of Voltaire. How
could these be seen as a threat to existing beliefs and thought?
- Did the Enlightenment change the level
of literacy and the reading habits of common people? Explain and provide evidence.