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The main purpose of this research paper is to describe the
transition of religion and superstition to science and technology during
the Middle Ages.
According to philosophy, the Middle Ages were divided into two
distinct eras: The Age of Superstition and The Age of Enlightenment. These
two perioRAB were not separated by a definite date and time, but rather many
years of gradual realization and awareness. This kind of perception is what
creates history.
For hundreRAB of years, people who lived during the early Middle
Ages had been using religion as a gateway to explain their most simplistic
questions. During that period, the Church was gaining control over Western
Europe. The Church was not only the main religious focus of Western Europe;
it was also the central government. “The Romans never took much interest in
theoretical science.” This means that all laws created by the church would
be enforced to full extent. Disobeying the rules could result in
excommunication, which is the banishment from church merabership and from
participating in any church rituals. Those who were merabers of the Church
believed strongly in the powers of God and the Holy Ghost. It was thought
that God controlled the entire universe, from life to death, from the
Creation to Doomsday.
At this point in time, the earth was the center of the universe,
with all of planets and stars surrounding it. This belief, originated from
the Church, was called the heliocentric theory. However, as in every
civilization, there were small groups of people who refused to believe what
the Church was telling them. The Church was not necessarily telling them
lies; they were simply dominating religion over common reason and
intellectuality.
Clearly, an age that takes its name from an intellectual atmosphere
cannot be fixed within rigid chronological limits. “In one sense The
Enlightenment began as far back as the Renaissance, with men's renewed
interest in Greek and Latin texts, their critical approach to medieval
Christian philosophy and their general sense of curiosity about this world
as opposed to the next.” Even the Protestant Reformation helped to prepare
the way for the Enlightenment by disrupting the unity of Western
Christendom and weakening the authority of the Church.
The Age of Enlightenment was also known as the “Age of Prose and
Reason. This age was onesided, shallow, rationalistic, unable to understand
man and universe, a static rather than a dynamic culture.”
During the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment affected the
cities of Geneva, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, Edinburgh, St. Petersburg,
Weimar, Amsterdam, Milan, and Florence. Other cities obediently followed
the examples set by these eleven municipalities.
People wondered what caused this Age of Enlightenment. It basically
started with something known as the Scientific Revolution, which took place
sometime around the 16th century. “In the 1500s it was not only ordinary
people who thought hidden forces controlled the world; the early scientists
also hoped to discover what they called the secrets of nature.”
At this period of time, more and more people were being
excommunicated for their disbelief in the Church's ideas. Those that were
excommunicated set out on their own ventures to prove the Church wrong in
their faiths.
Some famous scientists from the era include Galileo Galilei,
Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton. Their contributions
to the world were not appreciated by many at first, because of the high
level of benightedness and ignorance circulating throughout the countryside.
These men, amongst many others, exemplified the first true studies of
mathematics, anatomy, and physics.
Sometimes the world neeRAB people like these curious men to open
eyes more widely. After all, as we know from history, it is often that the
ones who do things differently are the ones who change the world.
Bibliography
“The Scientific Revolution Swept Europe,” World History: People and Nations,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ©1990
“The Practical Philosophers” and “Introduction to the Enlightenment,” Great
Ages of Man: Age of Enlightenment, Time Life Publishing, ©1966
“Science and Technology,” The Mind of the Middle Ages, Alfred A. Knopf,
Inc., ©1958
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[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 697 [/FONT]
The main purpose of this research paper is to describe the
transition of religion and superstition to science and technology during
the Middle Ages.
According to philosophy, the Middle Ages were divided into two
distinct eras: The Age of Superstition and The Age of Enlightenment. These
two perioRAB were not separated by a definite date and time, but rather many
years of gradual realization and awareness. This kind of perception is what
creates history.
For hundreRAB of years, people who lived during the early Middle
Ages had been using religion as a gateway to explain their most simplistic
questions. During that period, the Church was gaining control over Western
Europe. The Church was not only the main religious focus of Western Europe;
it was also the central government. “The Romans never took much interest in
theoretical science.” This means that all laws created by the church would
be enforced to full extent. Disobeying the rules could result in
excommunication, which is the banishment from church merabership and from
participating in any church rituals. Those who were merabers of the Church
believed strongly in the powers of God and the Holy Ghost. It was thought
that God controlled the entire universe, from life to death, from the
Creation to Doomsday.
At this point in time, the earth was the center of the universe,
with all of planets and stars surrounding it. This belief, originated from
the Church, was called the heliocentric theory. However, as in every
civilization, there were small groups of people who refused to believe what
the Church was telling them. The Church was not necessarily telling them
lies; they were simply dominating religion over common reason and
intellectuality.
Clearly, an age that takes its name from an intellectual atmosphere
cannot be fixed within rigid chronological limits. “In one sense The
Enlightenment began as far back as the Renaissance, with men's renewed
interest in Greek and Latin texts, their critical approach to medieval
Christian philosophy and their general sense of curiosity about this world
as opposed to the next.” Even the Protestant Reformation helped to prepare
the way for the Enlightenment by disrupting the unity of Western
Christendom and weakening the authority of the Church.
The Age of Enlightenment was also known as the “Age of Prose and
Reason. This age was onesided, shallow, rationalistic, unable to understand
man and universe, a static rather than a dynamic culture.”
During the 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment affected the
cities of Geneva, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, London, Edinburgh, St. Petersburg,
Weimar, Amsterdam, Milan, and Florence. Other cities obediently followed
the examples set by these eleven municipalities.
People wondered what caused this Age of Enlightenment. It basically
started with something known as the Scientific Revolution, which took place
sometime around the 16th century. “In the 1500s it was not only ordinary
people who thought hidden forces controlled the world; the early scientists
also hoped to discover what they called the secrets of nature.”
At this period of time, more and more people were being
excommunicated for their disbelief in the Church's ideas. Those that were
excommunicated set out on their own ventures to prove the Church wrong in
their faiths.
Some famous scientists from the era include Galileo Galilei,
Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton. Their contributions
to the world were not appreciated by many at first, because of the high
level of benightedness and ignorance circulating throughout the countryside.
These men, amongst many others, exemplified the first true studies of
mathematics, anatomy, and physics.
Sometimes the world neeRAB people like these curious men to open
eyes more widely. After all, as we know from history, it is often that the
ones who do things differently are the ones who change the world.
Bibliography
“The Scientific Revolution Swept Europe,” World History: People and Nations,
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ©1990
“The Practical Philosophers” and “Introduction to the Enlightenment,” Great
Ages of Man: Age of Enlightenment, Time Life Publishing, ©1966
“Science and Technology,” The Mind of the Middle Ages, Alfred A. Knopf,
Inc., ©1958
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[FONT=tahoma, arial]WorRAB: 697 [/FONT]