Editing Age of Enlightenment (section)

===Science===
{{Main|Science in the Age of Enlightenment}}
Science played an important role in Enlightenment discourse and thought. Many Enlightenment writers and thinkers had backgrounds in the sciences and associated scientific advancement with the overthrow of religion and traditional authority in favour of the development of free speech and thought.<ref>Bruce P. Lenman, ''Integration and Enlightenment: Scotland, 1746–1832'' (1993) [https://www.amazon.com/dp/0748603859 excerpt and text search]</ref> There were immediate practical results. The experiments of [[Antoine Lavoisier]] were used to create the first modern chemical plants in Paris, and the experiments of the [[Montgolfier brothers]] enabled them to launch the first manned flight in a [[hot air balloon]] in 1783.<ref>Sarmant, Thierry, ''Histoire de Paris,'' p. 120.</ref>

Broadly speaking, Enlightenment science greatly valued empiricism and rational thought and was embedded with the Enlightenment ideal of advancement and progress. The study of science, under the heading of [[natural philosophy]], was divided into [[physics]] and a conglomerate grouping of [[chemistry]] and [[natural history]], which included [[anatomy]], [[biology]], geology, [[mineralogy]], and [[zoology]].<ref>Porter (2003), 79–80.</ref> As with most Enlightenment views, the benefits of science were not seen universally: Rousseau criticized the sciences for distancing man from nature and not operating to make people happier.<ref>Burns (2003), entry: 7,103.</ref>

Science during the Enlightenment was dominated by scientific societies and [[academy|academies]], which had largely replaced universities as centres of scientific research and development. Societies and academies were also the backbone of the maturation of the scientific profession. Scientific academies and societies grew out of the Scientific Revolution as the creators of scientific knowledge, in contrast to the scholasticism of the university.<ref>Gillispie, (1980), p. xix.</ref> Some societies created or retained links to universities, but contemporary sources distinguished universities from scientific societies by claiming that the university's utility was in the transmission of knowledge while societies functioned to create knowledge.<ref>James E. McClellan III, "Learned Societies," in ''Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment,'' ed. Alan Charles Kors (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) {{cite web |url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/Modern/?view=usa&ci=9780195104301 |title=Oxford University Press: Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment: Alan Charles Kors |access-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330082517/http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/HistoryWorld/Modern/?view=usa&ci=9780195104301 |archive-date=30 March 2012}} (accessed on 8 June 2008).</ref> As the role of universities in institutionalized science began to diminish, learned societies became the cornerstone of organized science. Official scientific societies were chartered by the state to provide technical expertise.<ref>Porter, (2003), p. 91.</ref>

Most societies were granted permission to oversee their own publications, control the election of new members and the administration of the society.<ref>See Gillispie, (1980), "Conclusion."</ref> In the 18th century, a tremendous number of official academies and societies were founded in Europe, and by 1789 there were over 70 official scientific societies. In reference to this growth, [[Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle|Bernard de Fontenelle]] coined the term "the Age of Academies" to describe the 18th century.<ref>Porter, (2003), p. 90.</ref>

Another important development was the [[popular culture|popularization]] of science among an increasingly literate population. ''Philosophes'' introduced the public to many scientific theories, most notably through the ''Encyclopédie'' and the popularization of [[Newtonianism]] by Voltaire and [[Émilie du Châtelet]]. Some historians have marked the 18th century as a drab period in the history of science.<ref>see Hall (1954), iii; Mason (1956), 223.</ref> The century saw significant advancements in the practice of medicine, mathematics, and physics; the development of biological [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]]; a new understanding of [[magnetism]] and electricity; and the maturation of chemistry as a discipline, which established the foundations of modern chemistry.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

The influence of science began appearing more commonly in poetry and literature. Some poetry became infused with scientific metaphor and imagery, while other poems were written directly about scientific topics. [[Richard Blackmore]] committed the Newtonian system to verse in ''Creation, a Philosophical Poem in Seven Books'' (1712). After Newton's death in 1727, poems were composed in his honour for decades.<ref name="Burns, 2003, entry: 158">Burns, (2003), entry: 158.</ref> [[James Thomson (poet, born 1700)|James Thomson]] penned his "Poem to the Memory of Newton," which mourned the loss of Newton and praised his science and legacy.<ref>Thomson, (1786), p. 203.</ref>