Age of Enlightenment: Did you mean...?

Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and leading Enlightenment figure. In The Wealth of Nations, he advocates free trade and limited interference in markets by governments, for which he is seen as the founder of liberal...

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was an American printer, writer, scientist, inventor, and diplomat, often regarded as a Founding Father of the United States. He rose to prominence as editor of The Pennsylvania Gazette and author of Poor Richard's...

This map illustrates the geopolitical evolution in the Aegean during the Bronze Age when the dominant civilizations of the region - the Minoans and Mycenaeans- played distinct roles. The Minoans (2000–1450 BCE) on Crete were renowned for...

This map illustrates the Late Bronze Age Collapse (c. 1200–1150 BCE), a sudden and widespread upheaval that brought down many of the interconnected civilizations of the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. The once-mighty...

This map illustrates the extent of the La Tène culture, a key phase of the European Iron Age that flourished from around 450 BCE until the Roman conquests in the 1st century BCE. It highlights the widespread influence of early Celtic societies...

A collection of modern recreations of Stone Age tools. The picture above shows (from top right to bottom left): A hatchet with a wing spar, used for felling trees A straight hatchet for shortening smaller pieces of wood (with a piece...

Modern recreations of Stone Age tools: knives, arrows, hatchets, axes, and daggers, made of deer antlers. Pile-Dwelling Museum in Unteruhldingen at Lake Constance, Germany.

An illustration by Maia Kobabe showing a Bronze Age Greek chariot. From the novel The Jericho River by David Tollen.

David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher, writer, historian, and important figure in the Enlightenment. Hume presented a positive view of human nature but a sceptical view of religion's usefulness. His Treatise of Human Nature was...

The Four Noble Truths are the foundational tenets of Buddhism, which spark awareness of suffering as the nature of existence, its cause, and how to live without it. The truths are understood as the realization which led to the enlightenment...