The Scientific Revolution

The timeline of the early modern period’s Scientific Revolution is marked by examples of thunderous innovation and technological advances. But these innovations didn’t spring up out of thin air. They themselves were the product of global interconnections and centuries of collective learning, all of which led to breakthroughs that contributed to the Age of Enlightenment in Western Europe.
Scientific Revolution

Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies to understand content and feature usage to drive site improvements over time. To learn more, review our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Featured Materials

The Scientific Revolution
Folio from an c. 18th century astronomical manuscript illustrating the relative positions of the sun, the moon, Jupiter and Venus
OER Project
Article

The Scientific Revolution External link

The Scientific Revolution does indeed include everything from Copernicus to Newton. But the story also extends beyond Europe and the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Standing on the Shoulders of Invisible Giants
Illustration of Nicolaus Copernicus standing the shoulders of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Big History Project
Article

Standing on the Shoulders of Invisible Giants External link

The history of science is a history of our collective learning. Historians piece together different conversations to tell a story that crosses centuries and continents.
The Missing Link?: The Maragha Observatory
Illustration of various scholars at the Maragha Observatory in Persia
Big History Project
Article

The Missing Link?: The Maragha Observatory External link

From Ptolemy to Copernicus and Galileo, thinkers have debated what the Universe looked like for centuries. Ultimately, scholars moved from an Earth-centered model to a Sun-centered model. How did we get there?

Lessons

Lesson 4.1
World History AP®
Transoceanic Interconnections
c. 1450 to 1750 CE
Technological Innovations from 1450 to 1750 CE
European exploration relied on Afro-Eurasian scientific advances, technology, and trade. Explore how centuries of knowledge sparked the first global age.
View Lesson

Materials

Technology in the Age of Exploration
Map of the world from 1584 by Jacques de Vaulx, Pilot for the King in the French Navy.
World History AP®
Article

Technology in the Age of Exploration External link

The age of oceanic exploration was made possible when technologies and ideas from across Afro-Eurasia came together in fifteenth-century Europe.
Thank You for Algebra: Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi
Illustration of Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi working on algebraic calculations, with the scholars and discoveries who influenced him
Big History
Article

Thank You for Algebra: Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi External link

This Muslim mathematician built on ancient ideas and offered new approaches to mathematics that we still rely on today.
Source Collection: Trade and Technology c. 1450 to 1750
Open pages of a 12th century Koran, with writing and decorative illustrations.
World History AP®
Article

Source Collection: Trade and Technology c. 1450 to 1750 External link

The primary sources in this collection explore how ideas, technologies, and how things move around the globe transformed how people navigated, ate, waged war, traded, and even how they looked up at the stars.

Teacher Resources Icon
Teaching This Topic

Events Icon

Professional Development Events External link

Check out our free, live webinars and skills clinics that connect directly to your classroom. Because you deserve PD that’s useful, energizing, and worth your time.
Blog

Teacher Blog: Insights from Educators for Educators External link

Find fresh ideas, classroom insights, and teaching strategies to feed your curiosity and strengthen your practice.
discussions

Community Forum for Teachers External link

A vibrant, welcoming community that celebrates teacher voices. Ask questions, get answers and ideas, and share feedback with the OER Project team.

More topics