18th century Europe provided many ideas that would guide the Future. Isaac Newton who is one of the most famous men in history for his contribution to science discovered many things at this time such as calculus which is still used to this day. Also and more importantly, the French were having what is called the "Age of Enlightenment". In this time frame, the French had many philosophers make claims that would guide us to this day. Some of the philosophers were Locke, Hobbes, Diderot, Pascal, Bacon, Descartes, and Voltaire. I encourage you to research these people who had brilliant ideas and just the slightest amount of information on these people and the Age of Enlightenment will more than answer your question.