by During the 16th and 17th centuries, significant and groundbreaking changes in Science shed light in the society, and such a series of phenomena is described as the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution indeed leads to the emergence of fantastic discoveries and proposals of novel schemes in Science. Still, this fantastic period’s impact on society is much more profound and broader than people once assumed. The Scientific Revolution had multiple effects on society. Specifically, the Scientific Revolution paved the road for changes in people’s mindsets, facilitated the economy’s development, and sowed the seed for the shift in political powers.
First, the Scientific Revolution offers a platform for a drastic change in people’s mindsets thanks to its inspirational vibe of explorations and logical reasoning.
Scientific Revolution offers a profound influence on people’s mindsets because of its powerful vibe for exploration and discoveries. During the Scientific Revolution, many philosophers and practitioners proposed various schemes and thoughts about natural phenomena worldwide. Such a liberal and thriving pursuit of discovery during that period evoked people’s courage and curiosity to think outside of the box “based on logical reasoning (Changes of European Belief),” which set the fundamental change among people’s mindsets and led to the people’s skepticism of the existing church authority as well as the limitation of knowledge. Also, given that people, especially many philosophers, were inspired by the new establishment of knowledge and thoughts in Science, new criteria of knowledge and truth were proposed to meet people’s desire for mindsets’ changes (Advances in Psychology). As a result, more and more people tend to consider the freedom of speech and thought (Changes of European Belief) later during the Enlightenment, reflecting the significant change of Europeans’ mindset and beliefs. With the subsequent occurrence of doubts in society’s established framework as evidence, it is clear that the Scientific Revolution greatly influenced people’s mindsets.
Besides, the Scientific Revolution promotes economic development among European countries, shown by the advancement of the economics theories and applications in society.
Scientific Revolution elicited development in economic theories implicitly. The publication of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” in the mid-18th century reflects the Scientific Revolution’s subtle influence on European countries’ economies (Sallet). The book itself is a positive signal of a meticulous study of a nation’s economy. Such systematical research about the mechanism of a nation’s economy inherited the rational mindsets and methods applied during the Scientific Revolution. Because of the occurrence of influential studies with rigorous methods and frameworks regarding theories in the economy, people could explore and try to increase society’s economic benefits rationally. These actions led to further development of the economy. Consequently, the Scientific Revolution guided the economy’s advancement in society.
Additionally, the Scientific Revolution’s impact on the economy could be supported by the success of Industrialization. As Anderson mentioned, “the paramount significance during [economic] developments [during Industrialization] was the practical application of science.” Indeed, the advancement of tools and machines during the Industrialization period, which elicited the development in a society’s industrial and economic structure, was promoted by the long-lasting pursuit of exploring Science and the world’s mechanism that occurred during the Scientific Revolution. In other words, without Scientific Revolution and its exploration and promotion in technology, the significant economic propellers like the steam engine for European countries during Industrialization would not even exist. Simply put, the Scientific Revolution contributed profoundly to the development of the economy.
As expected, the scientific Revolution also affects changes in many European countries’ politics and the power balance.
The most striking example of the change in politics is the development and expansion of colonialism among European countries. According to Whatwhenhow RSS, the colonialism “was driven and shaped by the European scientific revolution of the seventeenth century and the growing authority of science in the 18th century Enlightenment period.” Ultimately, these motivations arose from the Scientific Revolution’s impact led to the propensity and feasibility of dominance and expansion among leaders of major industrialized countries. For instance, the scientific advancements in medicine and public health, thanks to the pursuit to understand the characteristics and mechanism of objects in nature during the Scientific Revolution, ensured European colonizers’ safety and excellent mobility into the New World. These revolutionary advancements provided the foundation of the change in the world’s political scheme thanks to colonization expansion. Thus, the political scheme and the balance was altered drastically compared with that in the earlier period (Whatwhenhow RSS), and such an outcome had Scientific Revolution’s indirect contributions.
As a provocative period for new thoughts and scientific ideas, the Scientific Revolution brought immense impacts on society in later periods of philosophical, economic, and political arenas. In general, the Scientific Revolution is the trailblazer for various changes in our society, and its contributions have seeped through many aspects of our lives, which is indeed fascinating.
Literature Cited
Anderson, E. H. “The Scientific Revolution and Its Impact on Modern Economics.” Southern Economic Journal, vol. 23, no. 3, 1957, pp. 227–244. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1054214. Accessed 10 Sept. 2020.
“4.Impact of The Scientific Revolution and The Enlightenment – Changes of European Beliefs P4.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/changesofeuropeanbeliefsp4/effects-of-the-scientific-revolution.
“5 The Scientific Revolution and the Beginnings of Modern Philosophy.” Advances in Psychology, North-Holland, 14 Apr. 2008, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166411508614430?via=ihub.
Sallet, Jonathan. “The Common Origins of Science and Democracy.” Brookings, Brookings, 8 Mar. 2017, www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2017/03/08/the-common-origins-of-science-and-democracy/.
“SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Western Colonialism).” Whatwhenhow RSS, what-when-how.com/western-colonialism/science-and-technology-western-colonialism/.