Western Civilization II / Unit 5 WC2 0419 short lesson, about 20 seconds
From Latin to the Vernaculars
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The idea
Kepler and Galileo wrote in the vernacular to mark their work off from doctrine; Newton wrote the Principia in Latin and later works in English. Over the eighteenth century Latin declined as the language of learning, and science reached readers who had never studied it.
In practice
The Enlightenment's public, unit 06, read in French and English.
Where people slip
Latin's fall widened the audience.
Your place on the trail
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