science

The Age of Unreason

The Age of Unreason is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Age of Unreason rather than just read about it. In short: The Age of Unreason is a series of four novels in the historical fantasy genre written by Gregory Keyes: Newton's Cannon (1998), ISBN 1-56865-829-X A Calculus of Angels (1999), ISBN 0-7394-0260-9 Empire of Unreason (2000), ISBN 0-345-40609-5 The Shadows of God (2001), ISBN 0-345-43904-X Its title is a reference to Thomas Paine's treatise The Age of Reason (1794-1807). The story spans the late 17th and early 18th cen…

Key takeaways

The Age of Unreason belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Age of Unreason to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Age of Unreason from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Age of Unreason is a series of four novels in the historical fantasy genre written by Gregory Keyes:

Newton's Cannon (1998), ISBN 1-56865-829-X A Calculus of Angels (1999), ISBN 0-7394-0260-9 Empire of Unreason (2000), ISBN 0-345-40609-5 The Shadows of God (2001), ISBN 0-345-43904-X Its title is a reference to Thomas Paine's treatise The Age of Reason (1794-1807). The story spans the late 17th and early 18th centuries, with the action moving between England and France, later involving Russia, Austria, the Republic of Venice, and North America. The author makes use of pseudosciences (scientific alchemy instead of our physics) that were popular at the time: using affinity and aether, for example. Some historical characters appear in important roles: Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Cotton Mather, King Louis XIV of France, Emperor Peter the Great of Russia, King Charles XII of Sweden, and Edward "Blackbeard" Teach.

References

External links Age of Unreason series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Age of Unreason

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Age of Unreason claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Age of Unreason before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Age of Unreason ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Age of Unreason

In research: The Age of Unreason appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Age of Unreason in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Age of Unreason is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990s historical novel stubs, 1990s speculative fiction novel stubs, 2000s historical novel stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Age of Unreason outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Age of Unreason in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Age of Unreason means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Age of Unreason out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Age of Unreason in simple terms?

The Age of Unreason is a series of four novels in the historical fantasy genre written by Gregory Keyes: Newton's Cannon (1998), ISBN 1-56865-829-X A Calculus of Angels (1999), ISBN 0-7394-0260-9 Empire of Unreason (2000), ISBN 0-345-40609-5 The Shadows of God (2001), ISBN 0-345-43904-X Its title i…

Why does The Age of Unreason matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Age of Unreason?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Age of Unreason.