Knowledge is something that all individuals seek in one way or another. We have this innate desire to improve our rationality and see the truth that exists in the world. But since we don't understand many things, somebody needs to essentially translate it for us. Scientists, who have the gift of being able to understand complex concepts in nature and the world, may not always speak in the language of the layman until the French philosopher Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle published his Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds in 1686.
Humans are naturally curious and want to learn more about the world. With this book, Fontenelle popularized science by communicating it in a way that would be digestible for an ordinary person. That essentially caused a boom during that time, it was a thirst for knowledge and people were seeing scientific research discussed and shown in newspapers and street performances. Several writers followed in his footsteps and that further accelerated the growth of science and rationality in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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