Pierre Chaunue, historian of the French Annals school, represents the era of the European Enlightenment, unique in world culture, born of the concept of progress (in the field of science, technology, art, social structures, philosophy) and leading to the French Revolution. The reader will see how in this era everyday life nourished the spirit of creativity, discovery and philosophical reflection and how, in turn, high ideas were implemented at the level of everyday consciousness and the world of material things.