During this time, the declared purpose and value of science became producing wealth

and inventions that would improve human lives, in the materialistic sense of having more food,

clothing, and other things. In Bacon's words, "the real and legitimate goal of sciences is the
endowment of human life with new inventions and riches", and he discouraged scientists from
pursuing intangible philosophical or spiritual ideas, which he believed contributed little to human
happiness beyond "the fume of subtle, sublime, or pleasing speculation". [81]
Science during the Enlightenment was dominated by scientific societies[82] and academies, which had
largely replaced universities as centres of scientific research and development. Societies and
academies were also the backbones of the maturation of the scientific profession. Another important
development was the popularization of science among an increasingly literate
population. Philosophes introduced the public to many scientific theories, most notably through
the Encyclopédie and the popularization of Newtonianism by Voltaire as well as by Émilie du
Châtelet, the French translator of Newton's Principia.
Some historians have marked the 18th century as a drab period in the history of science;[83] however,
the century saw significant advancements in the practice of medicine, mathematics, and physics; the
development of biological taxonomy; a new understanding of magnetism and electricity; and the
maturation of chemistry as a discipline, which established the foundations of modern chemistry.
Enlightenment philosophers chose a short history of scientific predecessors – Galileo, Boyle, and
Newton principally – as the guides and guarantors of their applications of the singular concept
of nature and natural law to every physical and social field of the day. In this respect, the lessons of
history and the social structures built upon it could be discarded. [84]