Deck 16: Culture and Society in the Age of the Scientific Revolution

Question 1

A major factor contributing to the scientific revolution was

A)the discovery by the humanists that the works of Ptolemy were a forgery.
B)a loss of interest in magic among educated Europeans.
C)the invention of instruments that made scientific discoveries possible.
D)the finding of a lost manuscript of Aristotle that led to the discovery of the law of gravity.
E)All these answers are correct.

Answer 1

the invention of instruments that made scientific discoveries possible.

Question 2

The primary importance of Francis Bacon to the scientific revolution was

A)as a great experimental scientist who formulated the basic law of acceleration.
B)as a mathematician who provided the third part of Kepler's second law of motion.
C)as a great theoretical scientist who provided a uniform theory of universal attraction from the work of Copernicus and Galileo.
D)as a great propagandist who popularized the findings and methodology of the new scientific inquiries.
E)as the founder of modern philosophy.

Answer 2

as a great propagandist who popularized the findings and methodology of the new scientific inquiries.

Question 3

Baroque art is seen as the visual manifestation of

A)the revival of interest in Greece and Rome.
B)the scientific outlook.
C)the Counter-Reformation.
D)increasing secularism.
E)the Dutch Reformed Church.

Answer 3

the Counter-Reformation.

Question 4

Galileo

A)was brought before the Inquisition.
B)antagonized Jesuit and Dominican astronomers.
C)published a book approved by the Church.
D)antagonized Jesuit and Dominican astronomers, was brought before the Inquisition, and published a book approved by the Church.
E)None of these answers is correct.

Question 5

Which of the following is true of Isaac Newton?

A)He got into fierce arguments with other researchers of his day.
B)He discovered the law of gravity.
C)He demonstrated that laws of motion on earth and in the heavens are the same.
D)He believed the world was stable and orderly.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 6

The works of these two contemporaries, Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, share

A)an underlying concern about human helplessness in the face of uncontrollable change.
B)a buoyant sense of optimism about the future.
C)the aspirations of common people for greater social opportunity.
D)a curious lack of energy, as though profound human questions are too difficult to address.
E)a desire to overthrow established governments.

Question 7

Galileo's accomplishments included

A)developing the theory of inertia, which undermined Aristotelian physics.
B)the discovery that the physical makeup of the other heavenly bodies is different from earth's.
C)proof that the orbits of the planets are elliptical, with the sun at one focus of the ellipse.
D)the fact that he persuaded the Roman Catholic Church to accept his discoveries as true.
E)observed proof of the Aristotelian view.

Question 8

In the seventeenth century, social mobility was

A)accepted as a desirable goal for all individuals.
B)easily available to peasants as opportunities to buy land increased.
C)closed to wealthy commoners because there was no way to enter the nobility.
D)increased somewhat by the need of expanding bureaucracies for educated officials.
E)attainable through education, not wealth.

Question 9

Which of the following words LEAST applies to the scientific outlook?

A)skepticism
B)common sense
C)experimentation
D)hypothesis
E)deduction

Question 10

One reason why European population grew slowly or not at all in the seventeenth century was because

A)only three in four children reached adulthood.
B)tens of thousands were emigrating to the New World.
C)couples tended to marry young, then find themselves unable to support a family.
D)warfare and economic depression reduced Europe's population by more than five million.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 11

Mannerist art was characterized by

A)formality, balance, and restraint.
B)distorted human figures and unnatural lighting effects.
C)extravagant use of bright colors and abstract design.
D)emphasis on decorative design.
E)simplicity in human figures, similar to Gothic sculpture.

Question 12

Cases of witchcraft declined after the middle of the seventeenth century

A)because authorities feared that such actions threatened their own authority.
B)because ordinary people embraced scientific explanations of natural events.
C)because people living in urban environments felt less vulnerable to mysterious forces.
D)both because authorities feared that such actions threatened their own authority and because people living in urban environments felt less vulnerable to mysterious forces.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 13

Which idea is associated with Copernicus?

A)The orbits of the planets are circles.
B)The orbits of the planets are ellipses.
C)Jupiter has three moons.
D)The earth rotates around the sun.
E)The planets are attached to transparent spheres.

Question 14

Which of the following was NOT usually a method by which the poor coped with their insecurity or discontent?

A)charivari
B)joining the army
C)petitions to Parliament
D)witch hunts
E)consultation with clever men or wise women

Question 15

As the discoveries of the new science spread throughout Europe,

A)governments played no role in fostering scientific knowledge.
B)Pascal gained a circle of wealthy followers skeptical that science would improve the human spirit.
C)ideas of order and regularity affected architecture and landscape design.
D)members of the wealthy classes ignored the new discoveries as uninteresting and not entertaining.
E)public scientific events were scorned.

Question 16

Why were witchcraft accusations directed primarily at old women, especially widows, during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

A)There was hostility to women who appeared to be challenging their traditional subordinate status.
B)In looking for scapegoats for events that were not explicable, society usually chose those on its margins.
C)It was believed that women were so lustful that the devil could make them his slaves.
D)Elderly widows were resented by their neighbors as burdens.
E)All these answers are correct.

Question 17

The intellectual approach of Descartes

A)relied on experimentation to confirm his most important ideas.
B)rested on the basic premise that "I think, therefore I am."
C)argued that the scientific method could not prove the existence of God.
D)argued that thought and tangible objects are of the same essence.
E)was premised upon truths perceived through faith.

Question 18

The artistic work associated with seventeenth-century Classicism

A)gave free expression to intense emotion.
B)required dramatists to confine their settings to ancient Greece and Rome.
C)frowned upon portraiture as a suitable subject for great art.
D)found notable patrons in the Habsburg courts.
E)embraced formal rules and structure.

Question 19

Scientific societies

A)preserved the individualism of scientific research.
B)were opposed by governments.
C)encouraged cooperative efforts in research.
D)symbolized the trend toward decentralization in governments during the seventeenth century.
E)allowed wide membership.

Question 20

Traditional village life in the seventeenth century witnessed

A)increasing isolation and lack of central governmental control.
B)increasing impoverishment of all villagers.
C)a breakdown in the relationship between peasants and landowners.
D)the emergence of a greater sense of community in the face of extreme hardship.
E)greater unity among rich and poor peasants.

Question 21

What religious, political, and social ramifications did the heliocentric model of the universe pose?

Question 22

How did the scientific interest in human anatomy exemplified in the Engraving Illustrating the Structure of the Human Body, shown in this chapter, demonstrate the continued influence of Renaissance art?

Question 23

How do the works of Cervantes and Shakespeare reflect the tensions of their times?

Question 24

How does the new certainty and confidence in science reflect the increased order of European states? What did that certainty imply about the relationship between the state of political development/stability and science/culture?

Question 25

What were the origins of the scientific revolution? Why did it occur when it did? How did it alter Europeans' views of their place in the natural world and in the universe?

Question 26

Review the feature entitled "Galileo and Kepler on Copernicus" in this chapter.Why did Galileo hesitate to publish his work in Italy? Why did Germany appear a more favorable environment at the time?

Question 27

Review the feature entitled "Galileo and Kepler on Copernicus" in this chapter.Judging from this letter, do you think Kepler had already published his work? If no, why not, and why is he then urging Galileo to publish first?

Question 28

Why was the new science of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries regarded by church and state as a threat to the established religious and political order?

Question 29

What obstacles would a seventeenth-century peasant have faced in trying to improve his or her position in society?

Question 30

Consider the paintings seen in this chapter by Caravaggio, Rubens, and Gentileschi.What makes these paintings extraordinary examples of the Baroque style?

Question 31

Consider maps 16.1 and 16.3.Where did the greatest improvements in communications occur? How did those improvements build upon political stability and urban growth?

Question 32

How did the founding of government-sponsored scientific societies reflect the consolidation and centralization of political authority?

Question 33

Why were philosophers, astronomers, anatomists, and other scientific thinkers hesitant to dispute and displace the ideas of ancient thinkers?

Question 34

How did Galileo's Moon pictured in this chapter overturn the Ptolemaic concept of the universe?

Question 35

Compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the methodology of Descartes and Isaac Newton.

Question 36

How are women portrayed in the woodcut found in this chapter?

Question 37

Review the feature entitled "Galileo and Kepler on Copernicus" in this chapter.Kepler distinguishes between scholars and mathematicians.Who are these scholars and what disciplines do they represent?

Question 38

Discuss the impact that the social and economic tensions of the seventeenth century had on European towns and villages.How did people deal with these tensions?

Question 39

How can we explain the European witch craze of the seventeenth century by placing it in its historical context? Consider issues of gender, politics, economics, and religion in your response.

Question 40

With the growth of larger political states and the discoveries of the new science, were seventeenth-century Europeans losing their faith in the Christian God? What evidence do you find that this was, or was not, the case?

Question 41

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Classicism.

Question 42

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: scientific method.

Question 43

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: laws of planetary motion.

Question 44

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: René Descartes.

Question 45

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: alchemy.

Question 46

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Neostoicism.

Question 47

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Kepler.

Question 48

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Royal Society of London.

Question 49

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: cabala.

Question 50

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Rembrandt.

Question 51

Review the feature entitled "A Witness Analyzes the Witch Craze" in this chapter.What, according to Linden, motivated the persecution of witches? Does his opinion surprise you given the fact that he himself was a clergyman?

Question 52

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Caravaggio.

Question 53

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Velázquez.

Question 54

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Vesalius.

Question 55

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: witch craze.

Question 56

Review the feature entitled "A Witness Analyzes the Witch Craze" in this chapter.What does Linden's perspective reveal about the breakdown in social order that plagued seventeenth century society in Europe?

Question 57

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Isaac Newton.

Question 58

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: El Greco.

Question 59

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Shakespeare.

Question 60

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: seigneurial reaction.

Question 61

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Galileo.

Question 62

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Pascal.

Question 63

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Cervantes.

Question 64

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Poussin.

Question 65

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Mannerism.

Question 66

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Bernini.

Question 67

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Corneille.

Question 68

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Rubens.

Question 69

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: disenchantment.

Question 70

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Francis Bacon.

Question 71

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: inertia.

Question 72

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Michel de Montaigne.

Question 73

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: principle of doubt.

Question 74

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Copernicus.

Question 75

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Baroque.

Question 76

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: charivari.

Question 77

Identify/define and explain the significance of the following: Principia.