To what extent were the Sciences enrolled to reform the Old Regime?

Résumé du document

The 16th century has been the century of the Scientific Revolution. Throughout Europe, Science renewed in a new form, and that rebirth gave what we call today the Scientific Revolution. Two centuries before, France had it's most important political revolution in 1789. After the French Revolution, the revolutionaries called the political regime they overtook the Old Regime. The Old Regime was characterized by absolutism, the absolute and centralized power for the monarch. By that time, France was the leader in Europe when it came to scientific progress. Sciences are plural; they cover a wide range of disciplines, such as medicine, chemistry, biology, physics etc. Science helped the regime. In what ways did it do so? How was science used by the regime in its reforming process? How was science used also in the making of the French Revolution? What can we consider the biggest reform of the old regime?

Extraits

[...] That evolution had a lot to do with the development of science. This new era of science is seeing the growth of rationalism in the mind of people. Science is the fact of upper class people. They progressively lead the kingdom to a new form of regime. Science and the learning of science as it was developed in the scientific revolution are based on rationalism. This rationalism has led the monarch to find a new way to control its country. [...]

[...] But as much as the power used the sciences, it also managed from the beginning to control it. The different places where Sciences were taught and studied, such as the Academie royale des Sciences or the Collège de France are financed by the king. This way, the power has its hand on sciences and can use it whenever it feels it would be necessary. It actually did use science to control the population and make sure its potency over it was unchallenged. [...]

[...] Jacques Cousin was a physicist, who saw in science the best way to reform the regime. But he also knew that the Old Regime was not reforming enough, and he implicated himself in the revolution making. He became an “officier municipal” in 1791 and was named in the central bureau of the Directoire in 1796. One other example is Jean- Paul Marat. He was a doctor and a physicist and a journalist who believed in the revolutionaries' ideals. He had trouble with the institutionalized scientists, because they refused him access to the academies several times. [...]

[...] The way sciences were used during the Old regime had an effect on the Revolution. First of all, Sciences are international, because scientists often see science has superior to national questions. This means that scientists saw very clearly what was abroad and they brought new ideas into France, mostly from England where the scientist community was very developed and not linked to power. Some men of science who had an influence on the regime became revolutionaries. This shows that in some ways, science encourage and help to develop the Revolution. [...]

[...] To what extent were the Sciences enrolled to reform the Old Regime? The 16th century has been the century of the Scientific Revolution. Throughout Europe, Science renewed in a new form, and that rebirth gave what we call today the Scientific Revolution centuries after, France has known its most important political revolution in 1789. After the French Revolution, the revolutionaries called the political regime they overtook the Old Regime. The Old Regime was characterized by absolutism, the absolute and centralized power for the monarch. [...]