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THE AGE OF REASON LIST OF TERMS AND IMPORTANT PEOPLE

AGE OF REASON: Period of history from the mid 1600s to around 1800 that grew largely out of the scientific work of Isaac Newton. This was a time of a growing belief in the supreme goodness and power of reason as a means of realizing human potential, as well as a period of rapid growth in science. CIVIL WAR OF ENGLAND: 1642-49. The overthrow of the English monarchy by a force of mostly Puritan Parliamentarians led by Oliver Cromwell. COLONY: A territory distant from the state having control over it. COPERNICUS, NICOLAS: 1473-1543. The Renaissance Polish astronomer who developed what has come to be known as the Copernican System. This system states that the sun is the center of the solar system and that the planets revolve around it in definite periodic orbits. This idea ran counter to the existing religious and scientific beliefs that the earth was the center of the universe. CROMWELL, OLIVER: 1599-1658. A puritan who ruled England under the title of “Lord Protector” from 1649-58. DIDEROT, DENIS: 1713-84. An important French writer who published the first encylopedias during the mid 1700s. DEISM: A popular 18th century philosophy that rejects traditional religions in favor of a view in which God is thought of as a sort of “cosmic clockmaker” who builds a complex mechanical universe, sets it in motion, and then does not interfere with its actions. Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine were all strong supporters of Deism. THE ENLIGHTENMENT: Loosely refers to the latter half of the 18th century; the last part of the Age of Reason. FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN: 1706-1790. American printer, diplomat, inventor, scientist, and statesman. He invented bifocals, the Franklin Stove, the harmonica and proved that lightning is a form of electricity. Franklin also served in the Continental Congress, served as ambassador to France during the Revolutionary War, and was on the committee that helped write the Declaration of Independence. GALLILEI, GALILEO: 1564-1642. Late Renaissance Italian mathematician, scientist, and astronomer. His work in astronomy helped prove the Copernican system; however, he was forced to recant his views by the Roman Catholic Church during the Inquisition of 1633. (The Church publicly apologized for its treatment of Galileo late in the 20th century.) Galileo also invented the thermometer. GOETHE, JOHANN: 1749-1832. Great German poet, scientist, and public official during the Age of Reason. HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY: A vast fur-trapping and trading company chartered by King Charles II of England in 1670 to Prince Rupert of the Rhine and a group of merchants and court followers. This company was granted sole trading rights in much of what is today the country of Canada as well as in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. The Hudson's Bay Company is still a successful business today. JEFFERSON, THOMAS: 1743-1826. A major figure of the Age of Reason who championed the cause of the perfectability of mankind through education and science. Jefferson was a Deist and the principle author of the Declaration of Independence. He became the third president of the U.S.

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Name __________________________

THE AGE OF REASON LIST OF TERMS AND IMPORTANT PEOPLE (Continued)

JOHNSON, DR. SAMUEL: 1709-84. Compiled the first comprehensive English dictionary in 1775. Johnson’s dictionary was used well into the 19th century. LINNAEUS, CAROLUS (KARL VON LINNE): 1707-78. Swedish botanist who developed the first successful system for classifying living things into similar groups, a system that is still in use today. NEWTON, SIR ISAAC: 1642-1727. English scientist and mathematician considered to be the greatest figure in the history of science. Newton’s work became the inspiration for The Age of Reason. ORRERY: A popular 18th century scientific toy made of pulleys and spheres that could be cranked to mimmick the way the heavenly bodies move around the sun. PILGRIMS: A band of English Puritans who founded the Plymouth colony in 1620. PURITANS: A religious group who wanted even greater reform of the Church of England than had been established by Queen Elizabeth I. The Puritans wanted to purify the Church of England of the ceremonies and rich ornamentation that they believed linked it too closely to the Catholicism they despised. “PHILOSOPHIAE NATURALIS PRINCIPIA MATHEMATICA”: Isaac Newton’s most famous scientific book of 1686-87: “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Science.” QUAKERS: A religious group, also known as the “Society of Friends,” founded in England by George Fox in the 1600s. The friends used silence in worship and rejected ritual; they also refused to sanction violence and supported humanitarian causes. William Penn and Ben Franklin were Quakers. REASON: To think coherently and logically; to draw conclusions from the facts. THE RESTORATION: The return of the institution of the Monarchy in England in 1660. The period of the reign of King Charles II (1660-85). ROUSSEAU, JEAN-JACQUES: 1712-78. An important French philosopher of the Age of Reason. He believed that mankind was basically good and he extolled the power and beauty of the emotions. SCIENTIFIC METHOD: An approach to scientific research developed by Isaac Newton based on three essential points: 1. Observation 2. Generalization and 3. Experimentation. This method replaced the more mystical approach to science that had existed during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and resulted in a spectacular growth in scientific research. STUART, CHARLES: King Charles I of England, executed in 1649 by the Parliamentarians at the end of the English Civil War. VOLTAIRE, FRANCOIS: 1694-1778. A foremost French writer and philosopher of the Age of Reason. He was a Deist, champion of rationality, and was very much against absolute monarchy.

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Name __________________________

THE AGE OF REASON TIMELINE

1642 Isaac Newton is born. Galileo dies. English Civil War begins. 1649 Execution of King Charles I of England. The Puritan Oliver Cromwell rules England as “Lord Protector.” 1658 Oliver Cromwell dies; his son rules England. 1660 The Monarchy is restored in England. King Charles II ascends to the throne. 1665 Black Plague ravages England. Newton begins an intense 18-month period of scientific work which results in the invention of calculus, the discovery of the laws of motion and gravitation, the development of the mathematical method called the binomial expansion, as well as important discoveries in optics, in the measurement of the masses of the sun and planets, and in the motion of comets. Robert Hooke publishes his book “Micrographia” and describes the first living cells. 1670 King Charles II establishes the Hudson's Bay Company. 1680 Clocks are equipped with minute hands for the first time. 1681 King Charles II grants the lands of Pennsylvania to the Quaker William Penn, making Penn its absolute lord for an annual royal rent of two beaver skins. 1685 The great composer Johann Sebastian Bach is born. 1686-87 Newton publishes what many consider to be the greatest book in the history of science called “Philosiphiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” which outlines his scientific insights. 1687 is used by many historians to be the date of the beginning of the Age of Reason. 1688 “The Glorious Revolution” establishes the supremacy of the Parliament over the Monarch in England. 1689 Isaac Newton becomes a member of Parliament in the House of Commons for Cambridge. 1694 The great French writer Voltaire is born. 1696 The English Deist John Toland publishes his influential book “Christianity Not Mysterious.” 1699-1702 Chatsworth House is remodeled to look like a Roman temple with over 1000 acres of geometric gardens around it. 1704 Isaac Newton publishes his book called “Opticks.” 1706 Benjamin Franklin is born. 1707 Carolus Linnaeus is born. 1714 Gabriel Fahrenheit invents a mercury thermometer. 1719 Daniel Defoe’s book “Robinson Crusoe” is published. 1727 The earliest steam engines are in use. 1732 George Washington is born in Virginia. 1735 Carolus Linnaeus publishes his great book on the classification of living things called “Systema Naturae.” 1743 Thomas Jefferson is born. 1744 Benjamin Franklin invents the Franklin Stove. 1751 Diderot’s encyclopedia begins appearing in installment volumes.

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1755 Dr. Samuel Johnson publishes the first real English dictionary. 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born in Austria. 1760 King George III of England begins his 60-year reign. 1762 The fourth Duke of Devonshire has the course of the river changed through his estate of Chatsworth and has the servants' village of Edensor pulled down so that it doesn’t interfere with his view. James Bradley publishes a star catalog that contains the measured position of 60,000 stars. 1765 James Watt invents a highly-improved steam engine. 1766 Henry Cavendish, grandson of the second Duke of Devonshire, discovers the element hydrogen, which he calls inflammable air. 1769 Joseph Cugnot of France builds a steam-powered vehicle that can carry four people at the speed of two and one-quarter miles per hour. 1770 Ludwig Von Beethoven is born. 1771 Luigi Galvani discovers the action of electricity in causing muscular contraction. 1775 The English novelist Jane Austen is born. 1776 Americans declare their independence from England. Thomas Paine publishes “Common Sense." Adam Smith publishes “The Wealth of Nations." 1778 Antoine Lavosier, considered to be the father of modern chemistry, announces that air consists of two different gases: one that can be used in respiration that he called oxygen and another called nitrogen that cannot. France joins America as an ally in the War of Independence; The great French philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau both die. 1779 The first bicycles, called velocipedes, appear in Paris. 1783 The Treaty of Paris recognizes an independent United States of America. 1785 The power loom is invented for weaving thread into cloth. The first balloon crossing over the English Channel. 1789 The French Revolution begins. The first steam-powered cotton factory opens in Manchester, England. William Hershel completes his great reflecting telescope. 1791 Mozart dies a pauper at the age of 36. The metric system of measurement is proposed. 1793 King Louis XVI is executed. The world's first professional society of chemists is established in Philadelphia. Jean Batiste Lamarck argues that fossils are the remains of organisms that at one time were alive. 1794 The famous chemist Lavosier is executed in France by a radical faction of the French Revolution. 1796 Edward Jenner performs the first innoculation for smallpox. 1799 George Washington dies at Mount Vernon, Virginia. The Rosetta stone is discovered in Egypt which turns out to be the key to unlocking the mystery of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. 1800 Chlorine is used to purify water.

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8 ACROSS 1. The historical period during which the great Polish astronomer Copernicus was born is called the ___________________. 2. The historical period from roughly 1642-1800 is called The Age of _______. 3. The Swedish botanist Carl __________ developed a system for classifying living things into separate groups which is still in use today. 4. A machine developed in the latter half of the 18th century called the Spinning _______ revolutionized thread making. 5. A territory distant from the state having control over it is called a____________. 6. The French writer Denis ________ published the first encyclopedias in the mid 1700s. 7. The invention in the 1780s of power _______ revolutionized the way that thread is woven into cloth. 8. Mechanical devices called ____________________ were in use by the end of the 18th century as sources of power for various machines used in manufacturing. They began to replace the use of water power. ©1995 Chariot Productions

DOWN 1. The ___________________expedition of 1804-1806 kept detailed scientific records of the plants, animals, and minerals of the American Pacific Northwest. 2. The ___________ Bay Company was formed in 1670 by King Charles I. 3. A new form of mathematics called ____________ was developed in the mid 1660s. 4. A man considered by many to be the greatest scientist of all time is named Sir Isaac _________. 5. The scientific method consists of three parts: first, observation, second, generalization and third __________________. 6. The great statesman and amateur scientist who became the third president of the United States has the last name of_____________. 7. The great scientist who proved the theories of Nicholas Copernicus, invented the thermometer, and died in 1642 is named __________ Gallilei. 8. Benjamin Franklin is well known not only for his accomplishments as a statesman but also for his experiments with the form of energy called______________. Distributed by United Learning

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Name __________________________

THE AGE OF REASON QUIZ

1. The Age of Reason was inspired in large part by the work of Sir Isaac Newton who not only developed a new form of mathematics called _____________________ but also developed a new approach to science we now call the scientific ________________________. 2. Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, developed a method for ___________________ living things that is still in use today. 3. Denis Diderot began publishing the first ___________________________ in the mid 1700s. 4. In the year that Isaac Newton was born, 1642, the great Renaissance scientist Galileo died, and in England the backers of the King found themselves involved in a _________________________ with the Parliamentarians. 5. In the year 1665, the people of England were terrified by the reappearance of __________________. 6. Oliver Cromwell was a member of a religious group called the __________________________. 7. The popular interest in science that swept the 1700s resulted in the invention of many ______________________ that eventually resulted in an Industrial Revolution. 8. During the 1700s, a substantial amount of world trade was in the hands of certain great companies formed under Royal Charter. Among these companies were the East India Company, the Africa Company, and the _______________ Company, which had the exclusive rights to trap and trade in a large portion of North America. 9. The third president of the United States was a devoted amateur scientist. His name was ____________________. 10.The American printer well known for his statesmanship and investigations into the properties of electricitywasnamed________________________. ©1995 Chariot Productions

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