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This meant that institutions were becoming increasingly secular and 
scientific. Secondly, the importance of education had changed 
drastically over the past hundred years as the availability of books had 
increased the literary rate. This was significant as this period also 
coincided with rapid economic growth. Newly wealthy individuals and 
the recently emerging middle classes without an aristocratic upbringing 
needed another ways to demonstrate their improved social statuses. 
Wealth began pouring into academies and publications which directly 
increased the speed with which knowledge could be transferred from 
one individual to another. 
Thinkers of this era were united under a common objective: social 
reform. They trusted in science to transfer Europe from a feudal society 
to the modern society we have today. With this mind, it is obvious that 
they perceived themselves as social engineers in a New Europe, a 
modern Europe. It is important to remember that despite the emergence 
of additional riches and hence, more prosperous individuals than 
previously, many of these people had an affluent upbringing. However, 
their abundance also reflected the limitations and social injustices of 
Europe at the time. Furthermore, nepotism and corruption was the norm 
because democracy and liberty simply did not exist: absolutism ruled the 
day. The primary purpose behind this new age of thinkers was to 
overthrow the system of the day and instate a new form of government 
and society, one that is guided by liberal and democratic factors. The 
best way to do this was through science and education.