DBQ

Analyze how political, religious, and social factors affected the work of scientists in the sixteenth and seventeen centuries.

Over the course of history the world went through changes of dark depressions and ages of enlightenment. During the Renaissance, this became the age of enlightenment. People began to wonder and think more. They became more interested in how things worked and why things are. Because of this, it lead to a race toward knowledge. Many people wished to help in the race toward knowledge in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe but it was limited to men who either did it for God or to prove him wrong and to gain political advantage for themselves and family.

Back in the ages of the enlightenment and that of the renaissance, men were the superior sex. Everything was done by men or for men. Women were treated alright, but they did not have the same powers that men controlled. They were considered to be inferior and men would try to stop their actions. “Were it allowable for our sex, I might set up my own school of natural philosophy. But I, being a woman, do fear they would soon cast me out of their schools (doc. 9). She realized that because of her sex, she would not be able to have as much of an impact on society as that of a male.

Many men of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth century were firm believers in God, yet did not let this stop them from experimenting and discovering new things that went against their religion. Copernicus chose to dedicate his work to “his holiness” and to benefit the church (doc. 1). However, he was most famous for his studies of the universe and that of heliocentrisim which went against the central belief of the church that the earth was the center of the universe. For his troubles he was put under house arrest for the rest of his life. John Calvin states that just because people reject what is unknown to them that science should not be condemned (doc. 2) In a letter to Galileo, an Italian monk says that people should allow those in authority of the scripture to interpret it to prevent malignant rumors (doc. 3) Many of the clergy and those of positions of power in the church were more likely to denounce science because of their strict beliefs. With church officials having so much power, it was hard for scientists to work unhindered. They were continuously harassed and put in jail or under house arrest like Galileo. The French monk Marin Mersenne, even though a clergy member, performed experiments and proved them 30 to 100 times (doc. 5). However, in his book, he gives the discretion of its information to his noble patron who can decide to either leave the information in or take it out. This hinders his ability to get out his experiments and tell the truth to the world.

People of political power tend to have more influence over everyone else. If they embraced science and those who practiced science, then knowledge would spread quicker and more easily. If people were friends, it would make it easier to share information and to convince others of new scientific theories (doc. 6) Henry Oldenbury believed this to be the way to spread and strengthen philosophy (doc. 6). The French finance minister, Jean Baptise Colbert realized how important science was and how beneficial it was to glory abroad and wealth at home, that they supported academics and in fact established several academies for letters and sciences (doc. 11). The French believed that to become wealthy and glorious abroad, they had to support the sciences. With this political help, scientists could now work without having to be hindered by opposition, since the right to study science was granted by the king.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries scientists were influenced by social, political, and religious factors. For women to not be able to participate in science proved to be a mistake. They wished to work and perform experiments just like men, but could not because of their gender. Religion was against science from the very beginning. The clergy members felt that science was impeding on their beliefs and taking followers from them. Thus many scientists were persecuted for practicing science. However, political factors in France helped scientists. The king himself backed up sciences and created academies in which people could study. He did this in order for glory abroad and wealth at home. Overall it was a difficult time for scientist to complete their work accurately and safely.