See related article Modernity.

The concept Modern World is recognized by many historians as being the period of time commencing after the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, after the mid-18th century. Other terms, such as Modern Period, modern times, the Modern Age, or the Modern Era, are commonly used. Some historians also use the terms New World or the Progressive Age to denote the recent period of time in history. Modernity is a term used to describe the condition of being Modern. Since the term Modern is used to describe a wide range of periods, modernity must be taken in context. ... Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide historical time into discrete named blocks. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western Europe and its first colonies, between the Middle Ages and modern society. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Beginning and ending

The beginning of this period is marked by the end of the European Renaissance. Its exact definition depends on the specific usage — for example a historian might be referring to the period 1650-, whilst a musician might be referring to music postdating the romantic era which would date the beginning of modernity to around 1900. World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance English Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance Polish Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution, religious reform and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ... Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in late 18th century Western Europe. ... Modernity is a term used to describe the condition of being Modern. Since the term Modern is used to describe a wide range of periods, modernity must be taken in context. ... 1900 (MCM) is a common year starting on Monday. ...

The modern age may be defined to extend to the present day or else to conclude postmodernism (which may be dated any time from the 1960s to the early 1980s), again depending on the usage. In the case where modern is used in a sense which means "before postmodernism", it may refer specifically to modernism. Another view is that postmodernism may, however, be considered as just the latest development of modernism itself. Postmodernism is a term describing a wide-ranging change in thinking beginning in the early 20th century. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Modernism is a cultural movement that generally includes progressive art and architecture, music and literature which emerged in the decades before 1914, as artists rebelled against late 19th century academic and historicist traditions. ...

Characteristics

The concept of the modern world as distinct from an ancient world of historical and outmoded artifacts rests on a sense that the modern world is primarily the product of relatively recent and revolutionary change. Advances in all areas of human activity -- politics, industry, society, economics, commerce, transport, communication, mechanization, automation, science, medicine, technology and culture -- appear to have transformed an "Old World" into the 'Modern or New World. In each case, the identification of a Revolutionary change can be used to demarcate the old and old-fashioned from the modern. Politics is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... ... Economics (from the Greek οίκος [oikos], house, and νομος [nomos], rule, hence household management) is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. ... Commerce is the trading of something of value between two entities. ... Communication is the process of exchanging information, usually via a common protocol. ... Mechanization refers to the use of powered machinery to help a human operator in some task. ... Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems (e. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... Medicine is the branch of health science and the sector of public life concerned with maintaining human health or restoring it through the treatment of disease and injury. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus: Europe, Asia, and Africa (collectively known as Africa-Eurasia) and the surrounding islands. ...

Politics

In European politics, the transition from feudal institutions to modern institutions has been marked by a series of Revolutions and military conflicts, beginning with the Eighty Years' War, which resulted in Dutch independence, confirmed in the Peace of Westphalia. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) established the modern international system of independent nation-states, ending feudalism in international relations. The English Glorious Revolution (1688) marked the end of feudalism in Great Britain, creating a modern constitutional monarchy. The French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the Ancien Régime in France, and as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, served to introduce political modernity in much of Western Europe. The Eighty Years War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession between the Netherlands and the Spanish king, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. ... The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster by Gerard Terborch (1648) Banquet of the Amsterdam Civic Guard in Celebration of the Peace of Münster by Bartholomeus van der Helst, 1648 The Peace of Westphalia, also known as the Treaties of Münster and Osnabrück, refers to the... // Events January 17 - Englands Long Parliament passes the Vote of No Address, breaking off negotiations with King Charles I and thereby setting the scene for the second phase of the English Civil War. ... // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... 1789 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Ancien Régime means Old Rule or Old Order in French; in English, the term refers primarily to the social and political system established in France under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. ...

The American and French Revolutions limited the powers of the absolute monarchs. Henceforth the world would become a "Modern" place where Democracy, and Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity became the new standards of government and of the rules of society. Freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Social equality is a social state of affairs in which certain different people have the same status in a certain respect. ... Brotherhood has multiple meanings: Siblings: The relationship between male offspring, Fraternity: Sodality, or people engaged in a particular occupation; the medical fraternity Brotherhood: The feeling that men should treat one another as brothers Labor union: Union, trade union, brotherhood, an organization of employees formed to bargain with an employer Brotherhood... ...

Men such as the Emperor Napoleon introduced new codes of law in Europe based on merit and achievement, rather than on a class system rooted in Feudalism. The modern political system of Liberalism (derived from the word "Liberty" which means "Freedom") empowered members of the disenfranchised Third Estate. The power of elected bodies supplanted traditional rule by royal decree. A new attachment to one's nation, culture and language produced the powerful forces of Nationalism. This in turn ultimately contributed to new ideologies such as the ideology of Fascism, Socialism and Communism. For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Social class describes the relationships between people in hierarchical societies or cultures. ... Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne; from a manuscript of a chanson de geste. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology as it developed and stands currently. ... In France of the ancien régime and the age of the French Revolution, the term Third Estate (tiers état) indicated the generality of people which were not part of the clergy (the First Estate) nor of the nobility (the Second Estate). ... An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in the United Kingdom and certain Commonwealth countries which is formally made in the name of the Queen (or the Governor-General acting on her behalf) by the Privy Council or the Executive Council the Queen-in-Council or the Governor... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... // Nationalism is an ideology which holds that the nation, ethnicity or national identity is a fundamental unit of human social life, and makes certain cultural and political claims based upon that belief; in particular, the claim that the nation is the only legitimate basis for the state, and that each... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Socialism is an ideology of a social and economic system where the means of production are collectively owned and administered by all of society. ... Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ...

Taken to an extreme, the desire to demolish all vestiges of the past and create a classless society, resulted in the abuses of Communism following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which executed the Tsar and his family, created the Soviet Union, transformed serfdom, and forcibly modernized Mother Russia. In Germany, once the Kaiser had abdicated in 1918, chaos ensued, paving the way for the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar status. ... Communism refers to a conjectured future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production, and can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. ... The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, the first having been instigated by the events around the February Revolution. ... Look up Tsar in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For the US community of Czar, see Czar, West Virginia. ... Costumes of Slaves or Serfs, from the Sixth to the Twelfth Centuries, collected by H. de Vielcastel, from original Documents in the great Libraries of Europe. ... The history of Russia is essentially that of its many nationalities, each with a separate history and complex origins. ... Kaiser is the German title meaning Emperor, derived from the Roman title of Caesar, as is the Slavic title of Tsar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... The term - National Socialism has been used in self-description by a number of different political groups and ideologies, some of which have no connection with the Nazis; see National socialism (disambiguation). ...

The new republic of the United States of America granted the vote to white, male citizens, and placed reins on government based on the new Constitution and created a system of checks and balances between the three different branches of government, the legislature, judiciary, and executive headed by a President who was elected via a national election. In a broad definition, a republic is a state whose political organization rests on the principle that the citizens or electorate constitute the ultimate root of legitimacy and sovereignty. ... Voting is a method of decision making wherein a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ... The doctrine and practice of dispersing political power and creating mutual accountability between political entities such as the courts, the president or prime minister, the legislature, and the citizens. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. ... The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of the system of courts of law for the administration of justice and to its principals, the justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. ... President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ...

In Indian politics, Mughal (1526-1857) and British (1857-1947) invasion and skillful organization gradually brought unification for the first time to a subcontinent of separate states and kingdoms into a strongly united federalist system, and culminating in the world's largest democracy (1947-Present). The European Union is now beginning the equivalent process that the Indian Union has completed over the last 500 years, of a continent becoming a federalist union, with the difference being the willingness of the European states to unite, versus the union being imposed on the Indian states by invaders.

Science and technology

Revolutions in science and technology have been no less influential than political revolutions in changing the shape of the modern world. The Scientific revolution, beginning with the discoveries of Kepler and Galileo, and culminating with Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), changed the way in which educated people looked at the natural world. In the history of science, the scientific revolution was the period that roughly began with the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, and others at the dawn of the 17th century, and ended with the publication of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687 by Isaac Newton. ... Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a Lutheran mathematician, astrologer, and astronomer. ... Galileo can refer to: Galileo Galilei, astronomer, philosopher, and physicist (1564 - 1642) the Galileo spacecraft, a NASA space probe that visited Jupiter and its moons the Galileo positioning system Life of Galileo, a play by Bertolt Brecht Galileo (1975) - screen adaptation of the play Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht... Newtons own copy of his Principia, with hand written corrections for the second edition. ... Events March 19 - The men under explorer Robert Cavelier de La Salle murder him while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi River. ...

Inventions

The mechanical and scientific inventions that were discovered, studied and implemented changed the way in which goods were produced and marketed. For example, modern machines in Britain sped up the manufacture of commodities such as cloth and iron. The horse and ox were no longer needed as beasts of burden. The newly invented engine powered the car, train, ship, and eventually the plane, revolutionizing the way people traveled. Artificially created energy powered any motor that drove any machine that was invented. Raw goods could be transported in huge quantities over vast distances; products could be manufactured quickly and then marketed all over the world, a situation that Britain used to its advantage. The word mechanical can mean one of several things: A device or principle described as mechanical relates to a mechanism or machine, or the realm of Newtonian mechanics. ... For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... Wind turbines A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ... The word commodity has a different meaning in business than in Marxian political economy. ... A variety of fabric. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... In rail transport, a train consists of a single or several connected rail vehicles that are capable of being moved together along a guideway to transport freight or passengers from one place to another along a planned route. ... Italian ship-rigged vessel Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. ... Fixed-wing aircraft is a generic term used to refer to what are more commonly known as airplanes in North American English and aeroplanes in Commonwealth English. ... A motor is a device that converts energy into mechanical power, and is often synonymous with engine. ... Wind turbines A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks. ...

Progress continued as Science saw so many new scientific discoveries. The telephone, radio, X-rays, microscopes, electricity all contributed to rapid changes in life-styles and societies. Discoveries of antibiotics such as penicillin brought new ways of combating diseases. Surgery and medications kept on making progressive improvements in medical care, hospitals, and nursing. New theories such as Evolution and Psychoanalysis changed humanity's "old fashioned" views of itself. Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz... It has been suggested that microscopy be merged into this article or section. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ... Penicillin nucleus Penicillin refers to a group of β-lactam antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections caused by susceptible, usually Gram-positive, organisms. ... A typical modern surgical operation For other uses, see Surgery (disambiguation). ... A medication is a licenced drug taken to cure or reduce symptoms of an illness or medical condition. ... See drugs, medication, and pharmacology for substances that are used to treat patients. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... Nursing is a discipline focused on assisting individuals, families and communities in attaining, re-attaining and maintaining optimal health and functioning. ... A speculative phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Industry

An Industrial Revolution initiated by mechanical automation of the manufacture of cotton cloth and the use of steam engines, commenced in the 18th century in Great Britain, followed in the 19th century by a later series of developments, which saw modern systems of communication and transportation introduced in the form of steamships, railroads and the telegraph. In the late 19th century, a Second Industrial Revolution, prompted by developments in the chemical, petroleum, steel and electrical industries, furthered transformed the modern world. The Industrial Revolution (more correctly, the First Industrial Revolution) was one of the major technological, socioeconomic and cultural changes in the late 18th and early 19th century resulting from the replacement of an economy based on manual labour to one dominated by industry and machine manufacture. ... The Second Industrial Revolution (1871-1914) involved significant developments for society and the world. ...

Warfare

Warfare was changed with the advent of new varieties of rifle, cannon, gun, machine gun, armor, tank, plane, jet, and missile. Weapons such as the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb, known along with chemical weapons and biological weapons as weapons of mass destruction, actually made the devastation of the entire planet Earth possible in minutes. All these are among the markings of the Modern World. A rifle is a firearm that uses a spiral groove cut into the barrel to spin a projectile (usually a bullet), thus improving accuracy and range of the projectile. ... A small cast-iron cannon on a carriage A cannon is any large tubular firearm designed to fire a heavy projectile over a considerable distance. ... 155 mm M198 howitzer U.S. Army soldier with a compact M249 variant USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside of nine 16/50 and six 5/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ... Alternative meanings: vehicle armour, Armor (novel) A hoplite wearing a helmet, a breastplate and greaves (and nothing else). ... Fixed-wing aircraft is a generic term used to refer to what are more commonly known as airplanes in North American English and aeroplanes in Commonwealth English. ... A jet is a stream of fluid produced by discharge through an orifice into free space. ... A missile (CE pronunciation: ; AmE: ) is, in general, a projectile—that is, something thrown or otherwise propelled. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease_causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ... A planet is generally considered to be a relatively large mass of accreted matter in orbit around a star that is not a star itself. ... Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the one we all live on. ...

Culture

New attitudes towards religion, with the church diminished, and a desire for personal freedoms, induced desires for sexual freedoms, which were ultimately accepted by large sectors of the Western World. Theories of "free love" and uninhibited sex were touted by radicals in the 1960s. A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... Human sexuality is the expression of sexual feelings. ... The term Western world or the West can have multiple meanings depending on its context. ... Free love is an ideology that love and sexual activities should be shared amongst many rather than confined to monogamous relationships, and that notions such as marriage should be abolished altogether. ... Look up Sex in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article is about biological sexes — male, female, etc. ...

Equality of the sexes in politics and economics, women's liberation movement, gay rights for homosexuals and the freedom afforded by contraception allowed for greater personal choices in these intimate areas of personal life. Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic situation. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... Since the first coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

In Indian culture, caste divisions continued, but lost its affiliation with occupations, as competitive exams became universal.

The Arts

The Modern Age, when used in reference to the arts, is the period from around the beginning of the 20th century, up to the present day. While some art may be described as post-modern, in reality this is just a continuation of the characteristics of modern art. Modern art is typified by self-awareness, and by the manipulation of form or medium as an integral part of the work itself. Whereas pre-modern art merely sought to represent a form of reality, modern art tends to encourage the audience to question its perceptions, and thereby the fundamental nature, of art itself. Key movements in modern art include cubist painting, typified by Pablo Picasso, modernist literature such as that written by James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and Gertrude Stein, and the 'new poetry' headed by Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. Young Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Full name) (October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Spain – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. ... James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. ... Virginia Woolf (January 25, 1882 – March 28, 1941) was a British author and feminist, who is considered to be one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century. ... Gertrude Stein, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1935 Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874, in Pittsburgh - July 27, 1946) was an American writer, poet, feminist, playwright and catalyst in the development of modern art and literature, who spent most of her life in France. ... Ezra Pound in 1913. ... T.S. Eliot (by E.O. Hoppe, 1919) Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965) was an American-born poet, dramatist, and literary critic, whose works, such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, and Four Quartets, are considered defining achievements of twentieth...

Modern music saw the beginning of a fusion movement of different styles and cultures. John Coltrane for example fused jazz with Carnatic music to develop his album India. Elvis Presley popularized rock and roll, fusing country-western and blues. Jazz fusion (sometimes referred to simply as fusion) is a musical genre that loosely encompasses the merging of jazz with other styles, particularly rock, funk, R&B, and world music. ... John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. ... Jazz master Louis Armstrong remains one of the most loved and best known of all jazz musicians. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known as The King of Rock n Roll, was an American singer, song producer and actor. ... Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Country music, once known as Country and Western music, is a popular musical form developed in the southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, spirituals, and the blues. ... The blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on a pentatonic scale and a characteristic twelve-bar chord progression. ...

Famous people

Much of the Modern world replaced the Biblically-oriented value system, the monarchical government system, and the feudal economic system, with new democratic and liberal ideas in the areas of politics, science, psychology, sociology, and economics. These new ideas were derived from the writings of such people as: The Bible (Hebrew תנ״ך tanakh, Greek η Βίβλος [hē biblos] ) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Politics is a process by which collective decisions are made within groups. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos/-ology = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of the mind and behavior, both human and nonhuman. ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... Economics (from the Greek οίκος [oikos], house, and νομος [nomos], rule, hence household management) is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. ...

(Note: The list below is not comprehensive by any means. To name all the significant thinkers and personalities who helped shape the modern age would be a voluminous undertaking. This selection is meant as a profile of the way major thinkers contributed to the creation of the world as we know it today. They are listed chronologically by year of birth.)

15th century and 16th century

• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543), Refutes geocentric theory, proposes a model placing the Sun at the center of the universe.
• Francisco de Vitoria (1480 – 1546), theologian, founder of the School of Salamanca philosophical tradition that provided a bridge from medieval to modern thinking on a number of critical issues about society.
• Petrus Apianus (1495 - 1557), astronomer and cartographer. Published the first table of sines.
• Tycho Brahe (1546 - 1601), astronomer, astrologer and alchemist, proposed the Tychonic system in contrast to both the traditional Geocentric model and the new version of Heliocentrism.
• Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547 – 1616), writer, wrote what many consider the first modern novel, Don Quixote - notable, among other things, for its focus upon the psychology of its principal characters and for its satirising of medieval stories of chivalry.

(14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: MikoÅ‚aj Kopernik, German: Nikolaus Kopernikus; February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish polymath, now remembered as providing the first modern formulation of a heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system. ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ... // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... The geocentric model (in Greek: geo = earth and centron = centre) of the universe is a paradigm which places the Earth at its center. ... The Sun is the star at the center of our Solar system. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ... Francisco de Vitoria (1492-1546) was a Renaissance theologian, founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Salamanca, noted especially for his contributions to the theory of Just War. ... Events March 6 - Treaty of Toledo - Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain recognize African conquests of Afonso of Portugal and he cedes the Canary Islands to Spain Great standing on the Ugra river - Muscovy becomes independent from the Golden Horde. ... // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ... Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ... The School of Salamanca is the renaissance of thought in diverse intellectual areas by Spanish theologians, rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria. ... Apianus on an 18th century engraving Petrus Apianus (April 16, 1495 – April 21, 1552; also known as Peter Apian) was a German humanist, famous for his works in mathematics, astronomy and cartography. ... 1495 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Spain is effectively bankrupt. ... An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ... In mathematics, the trigonometric functions are functions of an angle, important when studying triangles and modeling periodic phenomena. ... Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe (December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601), was a Danish nobleman astronomer as well as an astrologer and alchemist. ... // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ... Events February 8 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed February 25 - Robert Devereux beheaded Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrives in China Bad harvest in Russia due to rainy summer Dutch troops drive Portuguese from Málaga Battle of Kinsale, Ireland Births... An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is... For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... Tychonic system The Tychonic system (or Tychonian system) was an effort by Tycho Brahe to create a model of the solar system which would combine what he saw as the mathematical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical and physical benefits of the Ptolemaic system. ... The geocentric model The geocentric model (in Greek: geo = Earth and centron = center) of the universe is a disproven model which places the Earth at the center of the universe. ... Heliocentric Solar System In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. ... Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (September 29, 1547 - April 23, 1616), was a Spanish author, best known for his novel Don Quixote de la Mancha. ... Events January 16 - Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Tsar of Russia. ... Events October 25 — Dirk Hartog makes the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at an island off the Western Australian coast Pocahontas arrives in England War between Venice and Austria Collegium Musicum founded in Prague Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Don Quixote de la Mancha (now usually spelled Don Quijote by Spanish-speakers; Don Quixote is an archaic spelling) (IPA: ) is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ...

17th century

• Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Wrote Starry Messenger reinforced Copernicus' heliocentric theory. Used early telescope to discover planets, mountains on the moon, sun spots, and the Milky Way in space.
• René Descartes (1596-1650) Wrote Meditations on First Philosophy and Discourse on Method. Rejected Aristotelian and Scholastic traditions; Boosted rationalism. Also invented the Cartesian coordinate system that allowed geometry to be represented in algebraic form - which proved critical to the development of mathematics and physics.
• Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) Elevated scientific pantheism and rationalism.
• John Locke (1632-1704) Refutes Divine right of kings Role of tolerance in government

(16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Galileo Galilei Galileo Galileii (Pisa, February 15, 1564 – Arcetri, January 8, 1642), was an Italian physicist, astronomer, and philosopher who is closely associated with the scientific revolution. ... colonizing the New World September 10 — The Battle of Kawanakajima Ottoman Turks invade Malta Modern pencil becomes common in England Conquistadors crossed the Pacific Spanish founded a colony in the Philippines Births February 15 - Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist (died 1642) February 26 - Christopher Marlowe, English poet and dramatist... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. ... 50 cm refracting telescope at Nice Observatory. ... A planet (from the Greek πλανήτης, planetes or wanderers) is a body of considerable mass that orbits a star and that produces very little or no energy through nuclear fusion. ... Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ... 400 year sunspot history A sunspot is a region on the Suns surface (photosphere) that is marked by a lower temperature than its surroundings, and intense magnetic activity. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... For other things named Descartes, see Descartes (disambiguation). ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... // Events June 23 - Claimant King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland arrives in Scotland, the only of the three Kingdoms that has accepted him as ruler. ... Meditations on First Philosophy (subtitled In which the existence of God and the real distinction of mind and body, are demonstrated), written by René Descartes (1596 - 1650) and first published in 1641, expands upon Descartes philosophical system, which he first introduced in his Discourse on Method (1637). ... The Discourse on Method is a philosophical and mathematical treatise published by René Descartes in 1637. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Scholastic redirects here. ... Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... Cartesian means relating to the French mathematician and philosopher Descartes, who, among other things, worked to merge algebra and Euclidean geometry. ... Benedictus de Spinoza (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677), was named Baruch Spinoza by his synagogue elders and known as Bento de Espinosa or Bento dEspiñoza in his native Amsterdam. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Events First performance of Racines tragedy, Phèdre Sarah Churchill marries John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough Battle of Cassel, Philippe I of Orléans defeats William of Orange Mary II of England marries William of Orange English Statute of frauds is passed into law Battle of Landskrona Elias... Pantheism literally means God is All and All is God. It is the view that everything is of an all-encompassing immanent God; or that the universe, or nature, and God are equivalent. ... Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ... John Locke (August 29, 1632–October 28, 1704) was an influencial English philosopher and social contract theorist. ... See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Events Building of the Students Monument in Aiud, Romania. ... The Divine Right of Kings is a European political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. ... The cross of the war memorial and a menorah for Hanukkah coexist in Oxford. ...

18th century

• Isaac Newton (1642-1727) Wrote Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica or Principia. Revolutionized mathematics, optics, and physics, laid the foundations for modern science
• Voltaire (1694-1778) Wrote Candide opposing Leibniz's "metaphysical optimism". Author and Philosopher freethinker before the French Revolution
• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) Wrote Poor Richard's Almanack. Architect of liberty and helped draft the American Declaration of Independence
• Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Wrote Social Contract :All men are born free and equal, rights of citizens and Will of the people
• Adam Smith (1723-1790) Wrote Wealth of Nations. Father of Classical Economics. Advocated laissez-faire market forces
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) Wrote The Critique of Pure Reason in (1781). German philosopher and founder of critical philosophy. Explored role of knowledge and mind. Contributed to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.
• Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Free trade and constitutional statesmanship against misgovernmemt

(17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Sir Isaac Newton, PRS, (4 January [O.S. 25 December 1642] 1643 – 31 March [O.S. 20 March] 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, inventor and natural philosopher who is generally regarded as one of the most influential scientists in history. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... Events June 11 - George, Prince of Wales becomes King George II of Great Britain. ... Newtons own copy of his Principia, with hand written corrections for the second edition. ... Mathematics is often defined as the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. ... See also: List of optical topics Optics (appearance or look in ancient Greek) is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter. ... A Superconductor demonstrating the Meissner Effect Physics (from the Greek, φυσικός (physikos), natural, and φύσις (physis), nature) is the science of the natural world dealing with the fundamental constituents of the universe, the forces they exert on one another, and the results produced by these forces. ... For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... The last of Voltaires statues by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1781). ... Events February 6 - The colony Quilombo dos Palmares is destroyed. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Candide, ou lOptimisme, (English: Candide, or Optimism) (1759) is a picaresque novel by the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1777 Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most prominent of the Founders and early political figures and statesmen of the United States. ... Events March 27 - Concluding that Emperor Iyasus I of Ethiopia had abdicated by retiring to a monastery, a council of high officials appoint Tekle Haymanot I Emperor of Ethiopia May 23 - Battle of Ramillies September 7 - The Battle of Turin in the War of Spanish Succession - forces of Austria and... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Poor Richards Almanac (sometimes Almanack) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of Poor Richard or Richard Saunders for the purpose of this work in the title. ... Liberty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A declaration of independence is a proclamation of the independence of an aspiring state or states. ... Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean Jacques Rousseau (June 28, 1712 - July 2, 1778) was a Swiss-French philosopher, writer, political theorist, and self-taught composer of The Age of Enlightenment Biography of Rousseau The tomb of Rousseau in the crypt of the Panthéon, Paris Rousseau was born in Geneva, Switzerland... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Social contract - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Social equality is a social state of affairs in which certain different people have the same status in a certain respect. ... For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... Adam Smith, FRSE (baptised June 5, 1723 – July 17, 1790) Is considered the father of economics. He was a Scottish political economist and moral philosopher. ... Events February 16 - Louis XV of France attains his majority Births February 24 - John Burgoyne, British general (d. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of Adam Smith, published in 1776. ... Classical economics is a school of economic thought whose major developers include William Petty, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and John Stuart Mill, and Johann Heinrich von Thünen. ... It has been suggested that Kantianism be merged into this article or section. ... Events January 14 - King Philip V of Spain abdicates the throne February 20 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London June 23 - Treaty of Constantinople signed. ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Critique of Pure Reason is widely regarded as the philosopher Immanuel Kants major work, first published in 1781, with a second edition in 1787. ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Attributed to Immanuel Kant, the critical philosophy movement sees the primary task of philosophy as criticism rather than justification. ... Knowledge is information of which someone is aware. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and appeal to a wider international audience, this article may require cleanup. ... Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. ... Ethics (from Greek ethikos) is the branch of axiology – one of the four major branches of philosophy, alongside metaphysics, epistemology, and logic – which attempts to understand the nature of morality; to define that which is right from that which is wrong. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Edmund Burke The Right Honourable Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator and political philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ... Events July 30 - Baltimore, Maryland is founded. ... 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A fruit stand at a market. ... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ...

19th century

• Georg Hegel (1770-1831) Wrote Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1821). Concepts of dialectics, thesis and antithesis and synthesis central to Hegelian philosophy.
• John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) Wrote Principles of Political Economy advocating greater interaction between Labor and wealth
• Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Wrote On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Theory of evolution and homosapiens. Naturalism, botany
• Karl Marx (1818-1883) Wrote Das Kapital, Marxism, Communism. Dictatorship of the proletariat
• Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) Chiral molecules, existence of germs (microorganisms), pasteurization, vaccine against rabies.
• Gregor Johann Mendel (1822 – 1884), Catholic monk, discovered the existance of what became known later as genes and the laws of inheritance in organisms.
• Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Wrote War and Peace and chronicled the tumultuous conditions in Russia, its pre-Revolutionary anarchy, nihilism and social turmoil. Preached a form of Christian peace.
• Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Wrote Thus Spoke Zarathustra and The Will to Power. Criticized traditional Christian values such as guilt. Preached concept of will to power and doctrine of the Übermensch ("Superman" or "Ultimate Man") that was later twisted and abused by Hitlerian Fascism and the Nazis as a rationale for Germanic anti-Semitism and the genocide of Jews.
• Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (1848 – 1925), Philosopher-Mathematician: Laid the foundation of modern mathematical logic and analytic philosophy.
• Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) Wrote Judenstaat ("Jewish State"). Father of modern Zionism. Laid down the political groundwork for the future State of Israel. Convened First Zionist Congress (1897) in Basel, Switzerland establishing the World Zionist Organization predicting a Jewish state within 50 years.

Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770–November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1831 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Hegels Elements of the Philosophy of Right (Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts) was published in 1820, though the books original title page dates it to 1821. ... 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Broadly speaking, a dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a disagreement. ... A thesis (literally: position from the Greek θέσις) is an intellectual proposition. ... Antithesis (Greek for setting opposite, from anti = against and thesis = position) means a direct contrast or exact opposition to something. ... Synthesis (from the Greek words syn = plus and thesis = position) is commonly understood to be an integration of two or more pre-existing elements which results in a new creation. ... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (August 27, 1770–November 14, 1831) was a German philosopher born in Stuttgart, Württemberg, in present-day southwest Germany. ... John Stuart Mill (May 20, 1806 – May 8, 1873), an English philosopher and political economist, was an influential classical liberal t