This is due on 3-19-2009 at 1 PM.

It is historically significant that the Reformation of the sixteenth century was followed closely by the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. You should be thinking about any possible connections between the two. Were they related somehow? If so, in what ways? Was there anything similar between one and the other?

This assignment asks you to consider these questions by comparing the documents that you will be reading in conjunction with the textbook. You will have read about the Protestant Reformation and the reformer Martin Luther. He dealt with the authority of the Catholic Church and of the Pope as its leader. He was, in other words, questioning the religious authority of the Church and also trying to establish a new and more authoritative source for religious knowledge.

This week, you will be reading Montaigne, Galileo, Bacon and Descartes. These four important thinkers were dealing with issues of authority. Why were they questioning traditional sources of authority? What sources were being examined? Were they trying to establish new sources of authority? Why would the question of authority be so much on people's minds during this time period?

Write a 5 to 7 page essay that answers these questions using the writings of Montaigne, Galileo, Bacon and Descartes.