The Enlightenment spread ideas that knowledge and reason could improve society through movements like the Reformation, which launched a new form of Christianity called Protestantism. In the colonies, the Enlightenment increased interest in science. Figures like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke impacted the Enlightenment through their political philosophies. Other thinkers mentioned include Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Cesare Beccaria.