Scientific Revolution Web Sites
The Galileo Project ★★★★☆
Hosted by Rice University, the Galileo Project provides information about Galileo’s family, career, and scientific inquiries. Included are a list of Galileo Project texts, an overview of the scientific community in the 16th and 17th centuries, Internet resources, a glossary, a bibliography, maps, a timeline, and even college projects. It includes the Catalog of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries, which is a collection of 631 detailed biographies on members of the scientific community during the 16th and 17th centuries. The information was compiled by the late Richard S. Westfall, Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University. There are key facts about each individual and their contributions to science. The information is concise and very well organized.
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Scientific Revolution / French Revolution ★★★★☆
The Internet History Sourcebooks are wonderful collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts for educational use by Paul Halsall. The site and its documents are well organized and the breadth of materials is impressive. The Sourcebooks include: an Ancient History Sourcebook, a Medieval Sourcebook, and a Modern History Sourcebook. The Internet Modern History Sourcebook contains thousands of sources in dozens of categories. Subjects covered in the French Revolution section include Responses to the Revolution, Napoleon, and Napoleonic Wars. Subjects covered in the The Scientific Revolution include: Traditional Aristotelianism, New Medieval Analyses of motion, The Challenge: Astronomy in the 16th Century, Galileo Galilei: The Turning Point, Philosophy of Science: Induction/Deduction, The Creation of Classical Physics, New Medical Theories, and Scientific Institutions.
The Scientific Revolution ★★★★☆
Professor Robert A. Hatch of the University of Florida has created a diverse and engaging introduction to the Scientific Revolution. He provides an overview and background to the Scientific Revolution, bibliographic essays, outlines, timelines, a glossary, biographies of major sources, well organized links to primary and secondary sources, manuscript and archive sources, and books on-line.
Scientific Revolution Lesson Plans ★★★★☆
The History Teaching Institute has put together these lesson plans on various topics of the Scientifice Revolution, like the Trial of Galileo and Newton’s development of optics. Most lesson plans are for high school, but a few are suitable for middle school as well.
Enlightenment Web Sites
Voltaire Foundation ★★★★☆
The Voltaire Foundation, out of the University of Oxford, publishes regular scholarly articles about the Enlightenment and provides a searchable database of primary sources.
British Museum Enlightenment Galleries ★★★★☆
Browse the British Museum’s collection of Enlightenment artifacts and artwork, or take a virtual tour of the exhibits.
The Age of Enlightenment ★★★★☆
This packet offered by Carolina K-12 contains hand-outs, lesson plans, and activities, including an “Evening of Enlightenment” in which students must plan an era-appropriate dinner party for historical thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Voltaire.
French Revolution Web Sites
Exploring the French Revolution ★★★★★
This great site is a collaboration of the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) and the American Social History Project (City University of New York). It serves as a useful and lively introduction to the French Revolution as well as a repository of many key documents from the era. Among its offerings are numerous essays, 245 images, 338 text documents, 13 songs, a timeline, a glossary, and short audiovisual lectures from leading historians. The site should help visitors understand the causes of the French Revolution and the reasons for its radicalization. Furthermore, there are commentaries on the French Revolution by Thomas Jefferson and other prominent Americans of the time. In all, Exploring the French Revolution is an engaging resource for learning and teaching about the French Revolution.
What caused the French Revolution? ★★★★☆
The many causes of the French Revolution are discussed in this delightfully-narratated Ted-Ed animation. Comes with a quiz and discussion questions.
A Week of the French Revolution ★★★★☆
An Oregon high-school teacher has put together this week-long syllabus of French Revolution lessons. Features downloadable presentations, handouts, and discussion questions. Also provides links to related videos.
France in the Age of Les Miserables ★★★★☆
This site was created by students at Mount Holyoke and provides a wealth of information on the social history of France from the beginning of the Enlightenment to Haussman’s renovation of Paris in the 1870’s. The site’s presentation is very old and dated, but the content is excellent, with succintly-cited primary sources, plenty of images, and uncommon information things such as fashion history or the Parisian Opera.
BrainPOP: The French Revolution ★★★★☆
Brainpop offers excellent education videos for elementary and middle school audiences, and each of its modules comes with discussion questions, a quiz, and a timeline game in which students are presented with historical events and must sort them into the cchronological order. A subscription is required to access BrainPop’s videos and study materials, but the games are freely offered.
How did the British React to 1789? ★★★★☆
This National Archives lesson plan presents students with primary sources and asks them to evaluate the British response to the beginnings of civil unrest in France in 1789.
BBC Two Curriculum Bites ★★★★☆
A series of short videos explaining various concepts and events of the French Revolution, like Bastille Day and the Tennis Court Oath
Napoleon ★★★★☆
A visually appealing and informative PBS site on Napoleon. The site offers concise summaries and expert commentary on the following topics: The Man and the Myth, Napoleon and Josephine, Politics in Napoleon’s Time, and Napoleon at War. There are also interactive elements that students should find interesting, including the Interactive Battlefield Simulator: Could you win the battle of Waterloo? and video clips from the television series that this site supports. Teachers are provided with four lesson plans: Napoleon Becomes a Man of Destiny, Napoleon: Hero Or Tyrant? The Laws Live On, and Church and State. Finally, there is a discussion forum offering varied perspectives on Napoleon.
Napoleon.org ★★★★☆
Napoleon.org is produced by The Fondation Napoleon which has as its mission the encouragement of the study of and in interest in the history of the First and Second Empires. The website is bilingual (French/English), updated daily, and includes: a weekly newsletter, – Essential Napoleon, Fun stuff (Napoleonic postcards, music, recipes, jigsaws, quizzes, wallpaper, screensaver, etc.), The Magazine (Napoleonic ‘What’s On’ events diary, Napoleonic press and book review pages, six Napoleonic itineraries, a guide to more than 100 Napoleonic ‘Museums and monuments etc., interviews, Napoleonic Directory.), a Reading Room (20 articles in English, about 200 in French, Bibliographies, Timelines, Biographies) , a Gallery including an image database (900 images) and two filmographies, a special dossier section with four mini-sites, a Collectors’ Corner, a general forum, a full-text search engine, and Foundation details.
NapoleonSeries.org ★★★★☆
A useful research site, NapoleonSeries.org is dedicated to the study of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Napoleonic Era, and the French Revolution. This site provides access to contemporary documents and serves as a vehicle for historians to share their work.