During the Scientific Revolution, natural philosophers - using the scientific method - we better able to answer questions about the world than the Catholic Church. The Church, being the source of all knowledge for centuries, fought against this (just look at the trouble Galileo got himself into with the Church).
This was an earth shattering period of time. People began to question the authority of the Church, and embraced the new knowledge and technologies arising from the work of scientists.
This caused people to question the authority of other long-standing institutions - including the monarchy. During the Enlightenment, philosophers began envisioning different forms of government that would lead to a better society. These ideas then became popular with the general public. These developments led to the colonists in America waging the Revolutionary War to throw off the yoke of the British monarchy. The French Revolution was soon to follow.
So, these movements led to: a questioning of authority, the pursuit of knowledge, and a willingness to change longstanding institutions in order to better society.
