To understand the natural world and humankind's place
in it solely on the basis of reason and without turning to religious
belief was the goal of the wide-ranging intellectual movement called the
Enlightenment. The movement claimed the allegiance of a majority of
thinkers during the 17th and 18th centuries, a period that Thomas Paine
called the Age of Reason. At its heart it became a conflict between
religion and the inquiring mind that wanted to know and understand
through reason based on evidence and proof.
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Instruments for Science, 1800-1914: Scientific Trade Catalogs in Smithsonian Collections - 3 views
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