Denis Diderot: The Scientific Revolution

As the name itself states, the scientific revolution was a time when sciences prospered and came to light. By definition, the scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature. Just like humanism and the renaissance, the scientific revolution was when individuals took to share their knowledge with the rest of the World; they didn’t ask for much, they just wanted to be heard. Every aspect of their life was controlled by the church and ordinary people were starting to get fed up with this over incessant influence which is why they were ready for a change. Logic
and reason replaced faith and church beliefs, and brought with it innovation and new inventions that shaped the way we look at the World today. The scientific revolution delivered just that.
It struck Europe during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, and influential scientists of that time; Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, and Nicholas Copernicus to name a few, delivered revolutionary revelations in astronomy, physics and natural sciences. One of the outstanding figures of that time was Denis Diderot, a French born scientist that was the founder of the “Encyclopédie”. Born into a family of seven, Diderot spent his early life in Langres. Ever since he was little, he was considered a very hard working and excellent student, which is why he went on to study law and philosophy. After the death of his sister, Diderot changed his views on religion, which prompted him to question religion and the church at that time. Later, he declared himself as an atheist, which he augmented in his works. One of his most famous works was the Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia was published in France, and it was written by Diderot, with hopes of changing the way people perceived society and their ways of thinking. The work consisted of 28 volumes, with 71,818 articles and 3,129 illustrations. The first seventeen volumes were published between 1751 and 1765; eleven volumes of plates were finished by 1772
. It included various different fields like mathematics, biology, astronomy, and so on. He of course, wasn’t the only one to take part in writing this book. Other scientists and writers such as Jean Le Rond d'Alembert, Jean Le Rond d'Alembert , Chevalier Louis de Jaucourt, helped create this historical document that we still admire. However, this is not his only creation, in fact, in 1746 he published Philosophical Thoughts , where he wrote about the connections between nature and religion. He believed that you do not have to be religious, to show that you are a moral being with a conscious, which is why he chose to be an atheist. Just like many scientists and individuals that stood up for what they believed in, he too was a victim of blackmail- in 1749 he was sent to prison by the church just because of his personal beliefs.
Some historians even believe that the Encyclopedia made an influence on the French Revolution, because among other things, it talked about politics and their views on the systems of that time. As we know, one of the most famous revolutions was in fact, the French Revolution. This just goes to show how much a written document can be of significant value. Denis Diderot’s works, especially the Encyclopedia, had a huge influence on society because through these works he showed people that there was more to life than just religion. Even though they caused controversy which was expected and that time, they still made an impact, completely turning our perspective.