Smart Folks And A Few Rogues Who Never Saw America And Their Ideas

Front 1

Johannes Gutenberg

Back 1

German - Introduced printing to Europe - His invention of mechanical movable type printing started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period. His major work was the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible. Despite his being a honored as a “gentleman of the court” (three years before his death) he was financially unsuccessful in his lifetime. The church and the cemetery where he was buried were later destroyed and Gutenberg's grave is now lost.

Front 2

Nicolaus Copernicus

Back 2

Polish - Formulated a heliocentric model of the universe which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center. His book, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”, is considered a major event in the history of science. It contributed heavily to the scientific revolution. His casket (with his actual remains in them) is in St.James Cathedral in a small town (Allenstein) in Poland. Earth revolves around the Sun

Front 3

Galileo Galilei

Back 3

Italian - Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science". His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. Per his work with Copernicus’ heliocentrism, he was found guilty of heresy and placed under house arrest until he died. Among his finest work is “Two New Sciences, in which he summarised the work he had done some forty years earlier, on kinematics and strength of materials. Galileo was one of the first modern thinkers to clearly state that the laws of nature are mathematical. He died at age 77.

Front 4

Isaac Newton

Back 4

- Sir Isaac Newton was a physicist, and mathematician best known for his law of gravitation which was instrumental in the scientific revolution of the 17th century. With discoveries in optics, motion and mathematics, Newton developed the principles of modern physics. In 1687, he published his most acclaimed work “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”, which has been called the single most influential book in physics. Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into the many colours of the visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound. In his later life, Newton became president of the Royal Society. He also served the British government as Warden and Master of the Royal Mint. Newton died in his sleep in London on 20 March 1727.

Front 5

The Reformation

Back 5

The Protestant Reformation began on 31 October 1517, in Wittenberg, Saxony, where Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences to the door of the Castle Church, in Wittenberg. The theses debated and criticised the Church and the Pope.

Front 6

The Enlightenment

Back 6

was a time where the political, social, and intellectual landscape changed. It (arguably) began in 1687 when Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published and lasted throughout most of the 18th century. The Enlightenment was a time when the scientific method became the preferred and socially acceptable method of acquiring and validating knowledge, signaling a rejection of scholasticism (the study and presentation of Aristotelian thought unchallenged by factual evidence). In other words, Aristotle was out, and Newton was in. The Enlightenment mainly took hold in the US during the 18th century. It was characterized by reason and science, and it informed many of the decisions that led to the American Revolution. It’s characterized by an advancement of the natural sciences, the belief that nature is an orderly domain that can be understood, and the veneration of independent thought.

Front 7

Market economics

Back 7

is the economic system based on the concept of supply and demand, relying chiefly on market forces to allocate goods and determine prices. The market economy operates by voluntary exchange in a free market. It’s capitalistic and not controlled by a central authority. It assumes competition, information, rationality, price=cost, and the invisible hand (i.e. Adam Smith’s metaphor for economic self-regulation, the idea that companies are led to do what’s best for the world in pursuit of profits) .

Front 8

Liberalism

Back 8

is a political ideology founded on ideas of liberty and equality. It’s categorized by freedom of religion, private property, legal equality, and justice as a process. It’s rooted in the ideas of John Locke, particularly his notions of separating church and state. One of the foundations of liberalism is the notion that individuals surrender a minimal amount of freedom to protect property and right (security).

Front 9

Thomas Hobbes

Back 9

Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher, scientist, and historian, best known for his political philosophy, especially as articulated in his masterpiece Leviathan (1651). Hobbes viewed government primarily as a device for ensuring collective security. Political authority is justified by a hypothetical social contract among the many that vests in a sovereign person or entity the responsibility for the safety and well-being of all. In metaphysics, Hobbes defended materialism, the view that only material things are real. His scientific writings present all observed phenomena as the effects of matter in motion. His enduring contribution is as a political philosopher who justified wide-ranging government powers on the basis of the self-interested consent of citizens.

Front 10

John Locke

Back 10

John Locke, English philosopher whose works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism. He was an inspirer of both the European Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States. His philosophical thinking was close to that of the founders of modern science, especially Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, and other members of the Royal Society. His political thought was grounded in the notion of a social contract between citizens and in the importance of toleration, especially in matters of religion. Much of what he advocated in the realm of politics was accepted in England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89 and in the United States after the country’s declaration of independence in 1776.

Front 11

Henry VIII

Back 11

king of England (1509–47) who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. His six wives were, successively, Catherine of Aragon (the mother of the future queen Mary I),

Front 12

Elizabeth I

Back 12

queen of England (1558–1603) during a period, often called the Elizabethan Age, when England asserted itself vigorously as a major European power in politics, commerce, and the arts. Although her small kingdom was threatened by grave internal divisions, Elizabeth’s blend of shrewdness, courage, and majestic self-display inspired ardent expressions of loyalty and helped unify the nation against foreign enemies.

Front 13

Charles I

Back 13

king of Great Britain and Ireland (1625–49), whose authoritarian rule and quarrels with Parliament provoked a civil war that led to his execution.

Front 14

George III

Back 14

king of Great Britain and Ireland (1760–1820) and elector (1760–1814) and then king (1814–20) of Hanover, during a period when Britain won an empire in the Seven Years’ War but lost its American colonies, and then, after the struggle against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, emerged as a leading power in Europe. During the last years of his life (from 1811) he was intermittently mad—his son, the future George IV, acting as regent.