60 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



began to be firmly established, was either a mere revival of 

 the ancient science or a miraculous development of the new. 

 We find in the Renaissance many survivals of medieval 

 superstitions and we likewise find in the late Middle Ages 

 the mental stirrings which presage the Renaissance. It is a 

 truism to say that every age has its roots in the past, but in 

 the face of striking cultural changes, the antecedent factors 

 are not always clear. Because of these indications of the 

 new day, which appear during the last two centuries of the 

 Medieval Period, the dawn of modern science is coming to 

 be set about the year 1200, instead of during the Renais- 

 sance or at an even later date, as is done by those who as- 

 sume that nothing important was accomplished before the 

 nineteenth century. We have considered some of the scat- 

 tered indications of a more scientific attitude during the 

 Middle Ages and also the nature and influence of the Arab 

 learning. We may now consider certain men and events 

 that evidence the dawn of science during the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth centuries. 



By the opening of the thirteenth century, certain elements 

 of stability had appeared in Europe which had not been 

 in existence since the period of the Roman Empire, although 

 the Empire of Charlemagne came near to their realization. 

 The northern barbarians had been finally checked and in 

 part absorbed, the Christian nations had been unified by 

 the influence of the Church of Rome, and the governments 

 of the existing European states had become sufficiently 

 strong to preserve order. The irrational state of mind char- 

 acteristic of the Middle Ages was still dominant, but the 

 influence of Arab science was being felt and individuals who 

 struggled against the prevailing current became more nu- 

 merous. Thus Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) appears as the 

 earliest botanist. In addition to other botanical studies, 

 he examined the artificial propagation of plants in a hothouse 

 attached to his convent garden. He also made numerous 

 chemical experiments and first used the chemical term af- 



