Science played an important role in Enlightenment discourse and thought.
Many Enlightenment writers and thinkers had backgrounds in the sciences and associated scientific advancement with the overthrow of religion and traditional authority in favour of the development of free speech and thought.
Scientific progress during the Enlightenment included:
- the discovery of carbon dioxide (fixed air) by the chemist Joseph Black, the argument for deep time by the geologist James Hutton,the invention of the steam engine by James Watt;
- significant advancements in the practice of medicine, mathematics, and physics; the development of biological taxonomy; a new understanding of magnetism and electricity; and the maturation of chemistry as a discipline, which established the foundations of modern chemistry.
The leaders of the Enlightenment included Freemasons such as Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire.
During the Age of Enlightenment, Freemasons comprised an international network of like-minded men, often meeting in secret in ritualistic programs at their lodges. They promoted the ideals of the Enlightenment, and helped diffuse these values across Britain and France and other places.
