The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment
The Scientific Revolution began in 1540 and ended in 1690. The Scientific Revolution brought about many changes in old worldviews to new ones. Before, theories were never able to be proven correct or incorrect, but natural philosophers of this time period were able to pull together mathematical and scientific explanations of why things occurred. The Scientific Revolution depended on experimentation and empiricism to prove their points correctly. The Enlightenment, beginning in 1690 and going through 1789, was composed of philosophers focusing on rationalism and reason to prove their points correctly. Using reason, the philosophers were able to prove old worldviews wrong, similarly to the natural philosophers. The Enlightenment brought about new ideas of human progress, rights, and behavior that were never examined before. Satirists were able to point out human flaws, and extensive research summed up in the greatest enlightenment achievement, The Encyclopedia.