--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It [the scientific revolution] outshines…" description: "\"It [the scientific revolution] outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere epis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c3/herbert-butterfield-27137_anachronism_it-the-scientific-revolution-outshines-e_2543104.jpg" --- # It \[the scientific revolution\] outshines everything since… ![“It [the scientific revolution] outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes, mere internal displacements, within the system of medieval Christendom. . . . It looms so large as the real origin of the modern world and of…” quote by Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c3/herbert-butterfield-27137_anachronism_it-the-scientific-revolution-outshines-e_2543104.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c3/herbert-butterfield-27137_anachronism_it-the-scientific-revolution-outshines-e_2543104.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c3/herbert-butterfield-27137_anachronism_it-the-scientific-revolution-outshines-e_2543104.jpg) > “It \[the scientific revolution\] outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes, mere internal displacements, within the system of medieval Christendom. . . . It looms so large as the real origin of the modern world and of the modern mentality that our customary periodization of European history has become an anachronism and an encumbrance.” [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The scientific revolution eclipsed Christianity’s rise, making the Renaissance and Reformation seem minor; it reshaped modern thought, rendering old periodizations outdated. **In simple terms:** Science revolution changed world view, making older eras seem less central. Key Takeaway Update historical frameworks to reflect scientific impact. Themes history science periodization modernity Mood reflective inquisitive Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - academic curricula - public history - museum exhibits Key Concepts epistemology civilizational change chronology Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of the scientific revolution most altered modern mentality? - How can education reflect more fluid historical periods? A Different Perspective Traditional timelines may ignore interdisciplinary influences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anachronism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anachronism/) [Christendom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christendom/) [Christianity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christianity/) [Displacement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/displacement/) [European history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/european-history/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Medieval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medieval/) [Mentality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentality/) [Modern world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-world/) [Reformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reformation/) [Renaissance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renaissance/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-revolution/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [About the scientific revolution: it "outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/about-the-scientific-revolution-it-outshines-everything-since-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [One already feels like an anachronism, writing novels in the age of what-ever-this-is-the-age-of, but touring to promote them feels doubly anachronistic. The marketplace is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/one-already-feels-like-an-anachronism-writing-novels-in-the-age-of/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/i-wouldnt-mind-seeing-opera-die-ever-since-i-was-a-boy-i-regarded/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [Thanks to the Polgars the adjective 'men's' before events and the 'affirmative action' women's titles such as Woman Grandmaster have become anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/thanks-to-the-polgars-the-adjective-men-s-before-events-and-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [Some of my favorite photos from the old days are of people who maybe didn't know how to smile. Maybe smiling in photos wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/some-of-my-favorite-photos-from-the-old-days-are-of-people-who-maybe/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [A linguist deaf to the poetic functions of language and a literary scholar indifferent to linguistics are equally flagrant anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-jakobson/a-linguist-deaf-to-the-poetic-functions-of-language-and-a-literary/) [Roman Jakobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-jakobson/) > [“The biggest anachronism, usually, in a historical movie is, again, the author doesn’t want to be thought to in any way share the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/the-biggest-anachronism-usually-in-a-historical-movie-is-again-the/) [Thomas E. Woods Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-woods-jr/) > [If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/if-i-was-a-poet-i-had-become-one-because-poetry-more-intensely-than/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [Dignity is an anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/dignity-is-an-anachronism/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [Reality is partial to symmetry and slight anachronisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/reality-is-partial-to-symmetry-and-slight-anachronisms/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“THE ALLIGATOR IS AN ANACHRONISM THAT CAN EAT YOU!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/the-alligator-is-an-anachronism-that-can-eat-you/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions - racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war - which liberal intellectuals mechanically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-energy-that-actually-shapes-the-world-springs-from-emotions/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I call myself a gorgeous anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinkx-monsoon/i-call-myself-a-gorgeous-anachronism/) [Jinkx Monsoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jinkx-monsoon/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [When you stroll through Munich it can happen that you suddenly stand in front of an old house, an idyllically-dreaming church that smiles like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/when-you-stroll-through-munich-it-can-happen-that-you-suddenly-stand/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) ## More by Herbert Butterfield > [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [The academic mind can eat away the very basis of its own assurance ... produce contortions when it tries to bend over backward ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-academic-mind-can-eat-away-the-very-basis-of-its-own-assurance/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [Very strange bridges are used to make the passage from one state of things to another; we may lose sight of them in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/very-strange-bridges-are-used-to-make-the-passage-from-one-state-of/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [But the greatest menace to our civilization today is the conflict between giant organized systems of self-righteousness - each system only too delighted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/but-the-greatest-menace-to-our-civilization-today-is-the-conflict/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [“History is not the study of origins; rather it is the analysis of all the mediations by which the past was turned into our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/history-is-not-the-study-of-origins-rather-it-is-the-analysis-of-all/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [In the last resort, sheer insight is the greatest asset of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/in-the-last-resort-sheer-insight-is-the-greatest-asset-of-all/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [The study of the past with one eye, so to speak, upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-so-to-speak-upon-the-present-is/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [“The raconteur knows too well that, if he investigates the truth of the matter, he is only too likely to lose his good story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-raconteur-knows-too-well-that-if-he-investigates-the-truth-of-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [Those people work more wisely who seek to achieve good in their own small corner of the world ... than those who are forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/those-people-work-more-wisely-who-seek-to-achieve-good-in-their-own/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [The study of the past with one eye upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-upon-the-present-is-the-source-of/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [About the scientific revolution: it "outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/about-the-scientific-revolution-it-outshines-everything-since-the/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [It has been said that the historian is the avenger, and that standing as a judge between the parties and rivalries and causes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/it-has-been-said-that-the-historian-is-the-avenger-and-that-standing/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [Concerning alchemy it is more difficult to discover the actual state of things, in that the historians who specialise in this field seem sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/concerning-alchemy-it-is-more-difficult-to-discover-the-actual-state/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [If history can do anything it is to remind us that all our judgments are merely relative to time and circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/if-history-can-do-anything-it-is-to-remind-us-that-all-our-judgments/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) > [It is not a sin to introduce a personal bias that can be recognized and discounted. The sin in historical composition is the organization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/it-is-not-a-sin-to-introduce-a-personal-bias-that-can-be-recognized/) [Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) [Explore all 21 Herbert Butterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/) ## More Anachronism quotes > [When you stroll through Munich it can happen that you suddenly stand in front of an old house, an idyllically-dreaming church that smiles like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/when-you-stroll-through-munich-it-can-happen-that-you-suddenly-stand/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [The greatest temptation for the like of us is: to renounce violence, to repent, to make peace with oneself. Most revolutionaries fell before this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-greatest-temptation-for-the-like-of-us-is-to-renounce-violence-to/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I call myself a gorgeous anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinkx-monsoon/i-call-myself-a-gorgeous-anachronism/) [Jinkx Monsoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jinkx-monsoon/) > [The energy that actually shapes the world springs from emotions - racial pride, leader-worship, religious belief, love of war - which liberal intellectuals mechanically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-energy-that-actually-shapes-the-world-springs-from-emotions/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“THE ALLIGATOR IS AN ANACHRONISM THAT CAN EAT YOU!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/the-alligator-is-an-anachronism-that-can-eat-you/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [Reality is partial to symmetry and slight anachronisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/reality-is-partial-to-symmetry-and-slight-anachronisms/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Dignity is an anachronism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/dignity-is-an-anachronism/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [If I was a poet, I had become one because poetry, more intensely than any other practice, could not evade its anachronism and marginality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/if-i-was-a-poet-i-had-become-one-because-poetry-more-intensely-than/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [“The biggest anachronism, usually, in a historical movie is, again, the author doesn’t want to be thought to in any way share the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/the-biggest-anachronism-usually-in-a-historical-movie-is-again-the/) [Thomas E. Woods Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-e-woods-jr/) > [A linguist deaf to the poetic functions of language and a literary scholar indifferent to linguistics are equally flagrant anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-jakobson/a-linguist-deaf-to-the-poetic-functions-of-language-and-a-literary/) [Roman Jakobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-jakobson/) > [Some of my favorite photos from the old days are of people who maybe didn't know how to smile. Maybe smiling in photos wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ransom-riggs/some-of-my-favorite-photos-from-the-old-days-are-of-people-who-maybe/) [Ransom Riggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ransom-riggs/) > [Thanks to the Polgars the adjective 'men's' before events and the 'affirmative action' women's titles such as Woman Grandmaster have become anachronisms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/thanks-to-the-polgars-the-adjective-men-s-before-events-and-the/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [I wouldnt mind seeing opera die. Ever since I was a boy, I regarded opera as a ponderous anachronism, almost the equivalent of smoking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/i-wouldnt-mind-seeing-opera-die-ever-since-i-was-a-boy-i-regarded/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [One already feels like an anachronism, writing novels in the age of what-ever-this-is-the-age-of, but touring to promote them feels doubly anachronistic. The marketplace is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/one-already-feels-like-an-anachronism-writing-novels-in-the-age-of/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Independent self-reliant people would be a counterproductive anachronism in the collective society of the future where people will be defined by their associations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/independent-self-reliant-people-would-be-a-counterproductive/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Browse all 51 Anachronism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anachronism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It [the scientific revolution] outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes, mere internal displacements, within the system of medieval Christendom. . . . 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