Deck 15: New World Views: Europes Scientific Revolution

Question 1

Who wrote The Divine Comedy,in which those who abuse God's gift of reason are severely punished in the afterlife?

A)Dante Alighieri
B)St.Thomas Aquinas
C)Albertus Magnus
D)Roger Bacon
E)Plato

Answer 1

Dante Alighieri

Question 2

Which ancient Greek thinker had previously proposed a model of the universe similar to Copernicus's?

A)Aristarchus of Samos
B)Nicholas of Cusa
C)Plato
D)Aristotle
E)Ptolemy

Answer 2

Aristarchus of Samos

Question 3

Which Italian Renaissance scholar revived appreciation of the ancient philosopher Plato?

A)Pico della Mirandola
B)Giordano Bruno
C)Galileo Galilei
D)Andreas Vesalius
E)Niccolo Machiavelli

Answer 3

Pico della Mirandola

Question 4

Who usually performed a dissection during formal medical education?

A)a surgeon trained as a barber
B)an experienced executioner
C)a professor of anatomy
D)the students of medicine
E)a medical school graduate

Question 5

What did John Locke do that eventually brought him into the center of English political life?

A)He supervised a successful liver operation on the future Earl of Shaftesbury.
B)He graduated from Oxford University with a degree in political science.
C)He was elected a member of parliament from a London suburb.
D)He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
E)He fought against King Charles I in the English civil war of the 1640s.

Question 6

How did Galileo spend the final decade of his life?

A)He was placed under house arrest by the church,and all of his books were banned.
B)He became an eminent professor of astronomy at the University of Pisa.
C)He refused to recant,was arrested,tried as a heretic,and burned at the stake.
D)He concluded that new learning was blasphemous,recanted,and became a monk.
E)He turned to telling fortunes for his income and died in obscurity.

Question 7

Which historical event motivated Thomas Hobbes to write Leviathan?

A)the execution of King Charles I by his Puritan opponents
B)the execution of Giordano Bruno for his scientific writings
C)the Glorious Revolution of 1688
D)the Protestant Reformation
E)the Black Plague epidemic

Question 8

Who wrote The Prince?

A)Niccolo Machiavelli
B)King James II
C)Thomas Hobbes
D)John Locke
E)Charles I

Question 9

Who produced the first set of modern anatomical drawings available for students of medicine?

A)Andreas Vesalius
B)William Harvey
C)Paracelsus
D)Robert Boyle
E)Galen

Question 10

According to Galen,the blood that supplies nutrients to all parts of the body comes from the

A)liver.
B)heart.
C)brain.
D)arteries.
E)lungs.

Question 11

Kepler argued that the planets' orbits were

A)ellipses.
B)circles.
C)parbolas.
D)spirals.
E)straight lines.

Question 12

In early medieval times,which scholars made the most thoughtful contributions to mathematics and medicine?

A)Arabs and Greeks
B)Italians and Germans
C)Chinese and Indians
D)English and French
E)Spanish and Sicilian

Question 13

Which mathematician warned that science threatened spiritual values,saying "The God of the Christians is not simply the author of geometrical truth"?

A)Pascal
B)Descartes
C)Newton
D)Einstein
E)Kepler

Question 14

In Aristotle's world view,what was the quintessence?

A)the mysterious fifth element that lay in the region above the moon
B)the special power that planets like Venus had over humans
C)the divine force that kept celestial bodies in motion
D)the individual purpose that directed objects to move in certain ways
E)the workings of unmerited divine grace in the physical world

Question 15

Which distinguished experimental scientist left money in his will for a series of lectures defending Christianity against its opponents?

A)Robert Boyle
B)Francis Bacon
C)Galileo Galilei
D)William Harvey
E)Johannas Kepler

Question 16

René Descartes believed that scientific inquiry should begin with

A)rigorous skepticism.
B)inductive observations.
C)analytic geometry.
D)deep faith in God.
E)desire to improve the human condition.

Question 17

The famous astronomer Johannas Kepler was a student of

A)Tycho Brahe.
B)Albertus Magnus.
C)Nicholas Copernicus.
D)Galileo Galilei.
E)Rudolf II.

Question 18

The Royal Society for Promoting Natural Knowledge was established in what nation?

A)England
B)Poland
C)France
D)Denmark
E)Holland

Question 19

Who discovered the circulation of the blood and the major function of the heart?

A)William Harvey
B)Andreas Vesalius
C)Paracelsus
D)Robert Boyle
E)Galen

Question 20

Copernicus argued the universe was heliocentric,which means

A)the sun is at the center of the universe.
B)man is the measure of all things.
C)all things depend on God.
D)all things under the sun are divine.
E)the universe is infinite and unknowable.

Question 21

Which is the best expression of how medieval Christians saw the relationship of God and creation?

A)God was separated from and superior to the material world.
B)The material world was ultimately an illusion.
C)God directly manifested himself through natural forces such as wind,fire,and water.
D)God was a master watchmaker who designed the world and set it running.
E)God was a mathematician who worked through simple,comprehensible laws of nature.

Question 22

The pre-modern belief that all things in creation were linked in a hierarchical structure was called

A)the great chain of being.
B)divine right monarchy.
C)the four humors.
D)nature as mechanism.
E)the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic model.

Question 23

In what way did Descartes feel that the universe was analogous to a machine?

A)God had designed nature like a clockmaker,using reason and mathematics.
B)Skeptical reasoning best explains mechanical devices such as clocks.
C)In an age in which technology was developing so rapidly,God was no longer relevant.
D)Unlike living beings,the physical universe had no soul.
E)Nature was constantly changing,much like the shifting hands of a clock.

Question 24

Why was Newton's law of universal gravitation a compelling explanation of the heliocentric theory?

A)It clarified the role of gravity and motion in all aspects of the physical creation.
B)It attributed the presence of gravity to God's eternal power.
C)It was consistent with descriptions of the cosmos in Scripture.
D)It proved that existence of the solar system did not require a god to create or operate it.
E)It required no mathematical formulas to prove.

Question 25

In addition to the presentation of convincing scientific proofs that Earth revolves around the sun,what else was necessary to make most people accept this as a fact?

A)a conceptual and intellectual shift in how European civilization saw its place in creation
B)a spectacular cosmic event that everyone could witness
C)a long period of time,during which the new model was taught to generations of students
D)a widespread loss of religious faith among most eminent scientists and philosophers
E)a series of political upheavals,during which the old establishment was slowly replaced

Question 26

How did the practice of warfare affect the development of science?

A)The use of weapons that caused greater casualties enhanced the value of physicians and surgeons.
B)The moral relativism that the new science encouraged led to social upheaval and an increase in war.
C)Scientific theories were used by engineers to design new,more efficient weapons of mass destruction.
D)The devastation of warfare destroyed scientific academies and killed many scientists.
E)Military developments fostered a capitalist economy,which in turn supported scientific research.

Question 27

What was Copernicus's main objection to the Ptolemaic model of the cosmos?

A)It was unnecessarily complicated,for the cosmos should be a work of simplicity.
B)It held that the Earth revolved around the sun,which contradicted commonsense evidence.
C)It was constructed by pagans and was inconsistent with Biblical evidence.
D)The orbits of the heavenly bodies did not make mathematical sense.
E)The model had not taken Plato's philosophical concepts into consideration.

Question 28

What did Galileo's law of inertia state that contradicted the older theory of dynamics?

A)The older theory said the natural state of all bodies was at rest,but Galileo insisted that there was no natural state.
B)Galileo said that a body in motion would eventually come to rest without any other force deflecting it.
C)Galileo said that a body at rest would remain at rest until an agent compelled it to move.
D)Galileo said that the motion of bodies was always uniform if viewed from a fixed reference point.
E)The old theory was mathematical,but any new theory had to take divine will into account.

Question 29

Although much of the early work of the Scientific Revolution was more speculative than practical,what was one area that was enhanced by a more rational and scientific approach?

A)agriculture
B)metallurgy
C)more humane warfare
D)communications technology
E)understanding genetics

Question 30

What did Kepler,a deeply mystical investigator,believe about the study of nature?

A)The language of nature was mathematics,and humankind had a religious duty to learn what it said.
B)Copernicus was wrong about the orbits of planets,so the Ptolemaic model must be correct.
C)Very little data was needed to understand nature.
D)Mathematics was only the first step,and real truth came from the occult sciences.
E)Nature was an incredibly complex system that God alone could comprehend.

Question 31

What idea did Renaissance scholars find in Plato's philosophy that was enormously liberating?

A)Reality was based on universal laws of nature that humans could understand.
B)The real physical world lay beyond everyday sensory appearances.
C)Alchemy and astrology were legitimate sciences and could lead to practical results.
D)Divine inspiration was sufficient for grasping all truth.
E)The world was actually in motion and rotated around the sun.

Question 32

The practices of village "cunning folk" often derived from what source?

A)ancient traditions with pre-Christian roots
B)chapbooks written by astrologers and alchemists
C)instructions from demons
D)secret manuscripts kept hidden by witches
E)rituals practiced by Roman Catholic clergy

Question 33

The concept of the microcosm and macrocosm referred to what two bodies?

A)the human body and the cosmos
B)the Christian world and the pagan world
C)the angels and the demons serving Satan
D)the church and secular politics
E)the world of men and the world of women

Question 34

Who was burned at the stake by the Catholic Church for championing the new learning advanced by Copernicus and Galileo?

A)Giordano Bruno
B)Paracelsus
C)Blaise Pascal
D)Niccolo Machiavelli
E)Thomas Hobbes

Question 35

What new idea did Robert Boyle's critique of Galen's theory introduce to the model of the material world?

A)Changes in matter were caused by tiny particles that behave in a regular,predictable fashion.
B)Invisible spirits and angelic influences were no longer needed to explain natural phenomena.
C)The human body was not governed by four humors,but was an incredibly complex and unpredictable system.
D)Direct observation of the human body through dissection was necessary in medical training.
E)The human body was seen as a constantly changing and evolving object rather than as a mere machine.

Question 36

Why did John Locke,along with most scholars of medicine,hold the practice of dissection in disdain?

A)Working with one's hands received less academic prestige than did intellectual work.
B)Cutting into a human cadaver was a desecration of the immortal soul's earthly temple.
C)Philosophers required no knowledge of the natural world in order to find truth.
D)The exercise only confirmed what Galen had already discovered in ancient times.
E)Andreas Vesalius had already made anatomical drawings available for medical students.

Question 37

What term was used by John Locke to describe the original,empty state of the human mind,waiting to be filled up with knowledge?

A)tabula rasa
B)quintessence
C)telos
D)skepticism
E)divine mandate

Question 38

When small farms were consolidated into larger operations,what was one major social benefit?

A)More productive large farms reduced the frequency and severity of crop failures and famines.
B)Animals fed on clover and legumes were less likely to transmit diseases to the human population.
C)Larger farms could afford to pay laborers higher wages.
D)As fewer people lived on farms,they moved to healthier towns and cities.
E)European farms no longer needed American crops to produce sufficient food supplies.

Question 39

What did the experimental scientist Robert Boyle feel was the most powerful way to counter what he saw as a growing lack of respect for religion?

A)demonstrate the power and glory of God as revealed in his creation
B)encourage the practice of Bible study among university students
C)apply the scientific method to theology
D)insist that research be focused on responding to basic human needs
E)endow a series of academic lectures describing new discoveries in chemistry

Question 40

Why did Aristotle feel that humans should not put much faith in natural philosophy?

A)Most of creation could not be studied and therefore lay beyond human understanding.
B)It was sufficient to understand that gods and angels made the universe work.
C)Investigating the physical laws that governed the sun and planets was blasphemous.
D)Faith needed to be based on divine revelations in holy books,not study of physical nature.
E)Aristotle lived long before any serious observations were made of the world of nature.

Question 41

Peasants who claimed to have special magical powers over nature were called

Question 42

How did John Locke respond to academic life at Oxford University?

A)He was wearied by its uncritical and authority-bound nature.
B)He was inspired by his medical training to become a practicing surgeon.
C)He found the new science intriguing but inconsistent with his religious beliefs.
D)He found medicine and chemistry tedious,and did the bulk of his reading in theology.
E)He found the fields of economics,education,and political theory equally fascinating.

Question 43

How did medieval European thinkers view the cosmos?

A)It was limited in scale,hierarchical in structure,and monarchical in leadership.
B)It was infinitely large,unknowable in principles,and unpredictable in actions.
C)It was a vast machine,operated by forces that were beyond human comprehension.
D)It was a huge flat surface covered by a series of transparent bowl-like firmaments.
E)It was no more than an illusion,created by humans' sinful nature.

Question 44

The Scientific Revolution challenged traditional Christian beliefs because it

A)removed humans from the center of creation.
B)doubted the role of God in the daily operation of the universe.
C)was led by natural philosophers who were radical atheists and enemies of religion.
D)advocated the belief that demonic forces could animate material objects.
E)made the Bible irrelevant to common peoples' lives.

Question 45

In Aristotle's world view,the sun,moon,planets,and stars all revolved in perfect circles around

Question 46

During periods of social and political dislocation,whom did most Europeans outside of the intellectual elite blame for causing the trouble?

A)practitioners of magic
B)skeptical philosophers
C)scientific investigators
D)corrupt monarchs and nobles
E)the clergy

Question 47

How did the anti-authoritarianism of the new scientific world view contribute to political or religious freedoms for common people?

A)It had little immediate impact,as few related freedoms were extended to peasants prior to 1700.
B)It inspired widespread social upheavals and civil wars,during which common people gained new liberties.
C)Its appeals to reason and truth encouraged political fairness to women and the lower classes.
D)It strengthened the hierarchical world view by showing that the cosmos was designed by God.
E)It quickly promoted wider literacy,political activism,and religious tolerance among all Europeans.

Question 48

What was Thomas Hobbes's goal in his political writings?

A)He sought to discover natural laws of civil organization comparable with those in physics and astronomy.
B)He wanted to show human culture as a machine designed by God and governed by inflexible rules.
C)He hoped to rehabilitate the English monarchy and restore an heir of Charles I to the throne.
D)He expected to revolutionize society by restoring humans to their natural state of liberty.
E)He hoped to prove that were basically good,only slightly inferior to the angels.

Question 49

How did the church,perhaps inadvertently,support common people's superstition and reliance on magic?

A)The sacramental power of the Roman Catholic clergy was itself a form of magic.
B)The church had always stressed the reality of demonic powers,opposed to God,in this world.
C)The church often employed astrologers to assist in determining the church calendar.
D)Folk magic often had its roots in pagan religion.
E)Superstition was inconsistent with literate civilization.

Question 50

Why was the Copernican challenge to the traditional world view similar to the Protestant Reformation?

A)Both challenged the Catholic Church's traditional claims to authority.
B)Both were headed by rebels coming from outside the Catholic Church.
C)Both strongly challenged the authority of the Bible as the source of truth.
D)Both promoted open rebellion to the Catholic Church's orthodox doctrines.
E)Both led Catholic authorities to quickly come to terms with new ideas.

Question 51

According to John Locke,which of the following is NOT a legitimate purpose of government?

A)to enforce religious orthodoxy
B)to protect property
C)to establish a durable social society
D)to preserve political freedoms
E)to resist arbitrary authority

Question 52

How did the Scientific Revolution affect the position of women in European society?

A)It had little immediate impact as women were still considered inferior to men.
B)It created opportunities for women to attend universities and join scientific societies.
C)By increasing literacy,it gave women wider access to learning and political power.
D)Through its study of psychology,it gave men even more opportunities to exclude women.
E)Since women were more spiritual creatures than men,it made them even less relevant to everyday life.

Question 53

What scientist posited a law of universal gravitation,demonstrating that all bodies in motion were intimately connected?

Question 54

What was Locke's attitude toward the study of the human mind?

A)It was akin to the study of nature and not inconsistent with Christian faith.
B)Becasue the mind is not governed by physical laws,its study had little in common with astronomy or medicine.
C)It led to ambiguous results,for no researcher had the right to claim unmediated access to the truth.
D)It was akin to theology,for God implanted innate moral knowledge in every newborn child.
E)It could be done only by researchers who were willing to accept the divinity of the human soul.

Question 55

Who was burned at the stake because he suggested that the universe was infinite and had innumerable planets?

Question 56

Why were women,rather than male alchemists or astrologers,targeted during the European witch hunts?

A)Women were vulnerable targets in a society dominated by men.
B)Male alchemists and astrologers were too clever to fall into the witch-hunt trap.
C)Women were associated with forces beyond the reach of most people's understanding.
D)Women were excluded from the new scientific societies.
E)Most Europeans were illiterate and committed to traditional religious ways.

Question 57

How did the French mathematician Blaise Pascal respond to the claims of the new science?

A)He cautioned that they were exaggerated,and that central truths remained beyond the grasp of reason.
B)He argued that mathematics and practical science made organized religion essentially irrelevant.
C)He warned that skepticism could result in the complete overthrow of the social order.
D)He believed humans could understand their purpose and destiny through science and reason alone.
E)He decided that scientific discoveries were completely in agreement with spiritual values.

Question 58

What was the impact of Giordano Bruno's confinement and execution among the members of the Scientific Revolution?

A)It became a rallying cry for freedom of thought.
B)It coerced progressive scientists into silence.
C)It forced natural philosophers to categorize their own investigations as acts of piety.
D)It produced a backlash of ardent religious skepticism among scientists.
E)It discouraged astronomers from openly challenging the Ptolemaic model.

Question 59

What ancient medical authority dominated university medical training well into the seventeenth century?

Question 60

Why did the new science have the greatest practical impact in agronomy and medicine rather than in astronomy and physics?

A)Advances in these fields improved the living conditions of most people living at this time.
B)The new scientific principles were easier for most people to understand than mathematics.
C)Most of the scientists were lower class men who understood common peoples' problems.
D)Church leaders actively steered scientists toward practical arts to fend off challenges to orthodoxy.
E)Most illustrious scientists began their careers with practical work in these areas.