Chapter Fifteen: Cultural Transformations Continued

"Ways of the World"

Chapter Fifteen: Cultural Transformations Continued

Religious and Science

1450-1750

In continuation to my previous entry, the second half of chapter fifteen was by far, for myself at least, more tasteful. In all honesty I was not quite sure what I was expecting the next portion of the reading to be about (even though it is in title of the chapter) but nonetheless I was pleased to finally dabble in the sciences. I for one enjoy the majority of the sciences: psychology. physics, astronomy etc. So a lot of the names that made major contributions to the scientific community and Scientific Revolution in the early modern area stood out due to the fact that some theories, principles, and equations have stood the test of time and remain true and applicable even today. Men such as: Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes, Issac Newton, Blaise Pascal, and Immanuel Kant to name a few. Along with that I picked up on three things I found to be relevant and or interesting.This chapter will on religion and sciences not only examines one and the other but also analyzes the problems that arose between the two upon becoming more and more of interest. "...Requiring neither God nor angels to account for its normal operation. Knowledge of that universe could be obtained through human reason alone- by observation, deduction, and experimentation- without the aid of ancient authorities or divine revelation"(Strayer 744). This I believe is important when trying to see the real branching away the sciences started from the churches views of earth, the human body, and space. I find it refreshing to see how people were no longer satisfied with the 'that is the way God intended it to be' people, men and women (mostly men), were looking for more fulfilling answers with or without the church's approval. Another interesting phrase I picked up on but will not go in depth about was "natural religion" that was apparently "a conception of religion shaped by the outlook of science. The last relevant issue that stood out to me was the extreme under representation of women during the Scientific Revolution. While it is not surprising per-say it is mind boggling to really examine the prejudice against women or any particular group during this time period.