Scientific Revolution

By the latter half of the 17th century we began to see an increase in scientific institutions and the importance of science in schooling. All this newly acquired knowledge and ideas began to gain acceptance and spread freely through existing universities like Cambridge and Oxford. Societies completely devoted to science began to spring up; most notably being The Royal Society which was a result of the English Civil War. These societies and groups were crucial in the advancement and the spread of ideas, because now great minds were able to come together and exchange ideas and opinions. It is also during this time that we see less involvement by the church, and that of course gave more freedom to the masses to express radical ideas without the possibility of being charged with heresy. Look at Copernicus for example who delayed the publishing of his theories out of fear of the church. It wasn't until after his death that his book and ideas were published. This latter part of the 17th century set the precedent for being able to back up theories with actual irrefutable facts and evidence. Guys like Galileo and Copernicus had great ideas, that in part were later found to be right, but it wasn't until Newton that these ideas were proven as they were being thought up. This period of time was specifically crucial in the Scientific Revolution, and was influential in advancing the way we a people approach and study science.