Main Themes:

1.  The Renaissance and Reformationn paved the way for the new science and philosophy of the
     17c and 18c.
2.  The transition from the Middle Ages to early modern times represented a shift in emphasis
     from authoritative truth to factual truth.

I. The Scientific Revolution:
        A.  Basic questions were asked:  Who am I?  What is my purpose in life?  How can science and natural
             laws be applied to society?   What is the nature of the good society?   
        B.  Rene Descartes --> deductive method;  systematic doubting (I think, therefore I am.) --> Cartesian dualism
        C.  Sir Francis Bacon --> inductive reasoning.
        D.  Changing views of the universe:
                    -- classical and medieval view --> geocentric theory (Ptolemaic view).
                    -- Copernicus --> heliocentric theory.
                    -- Kepler --> Laws of Planetary Motion (elliptical orbits).
                    -- Galileo --> perfected the telescope; analyzed the nature of motion.
                    -- Newton --> Law of Universal Gravity;  the universe is seen as one great "machine" operating
                                         according to unalterable universal laws and principles.

II.  Affects of the Scientific Revolution:
        A.  Philosophical --> 17c was a period of intellectual transition (weariness with religious strife).
                    -- Blaise Pascal --> reason will bring one to faith and a dependence upon divine grace.
                    -- Spinoza --> mind and matter are extensions of the infinite substance of God.
                    -- Deism --> God is seen as the "first cause" in the universe;  but the world operates without
                                       God's constant intervention.
        B.  Literature --> Milton (Paradise Lost);   John Bunyon (Pilgrim's Progress).
        C.  Other scientific discoveries --> chemistry (Boyle), botany, anatomy (Harvey), physiology.