62 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



science. Like Gerbert of Rheims, he was regarded as in 

 league with the Devil, but his ecclesiastical standing saved 

 him from persecution. 



The greatest of medieval scientists was Roger Bacon, born 

 about the year 1214 and known as the "Admirable Doc- 

 tor." Familiar with Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, 

 Bacon was well versed in the older learning, but more than 

 this he was a man of new ideas. He seems to have practiced 

 in the thirteenth century what Francis Bacon advocated in 

 the seventeenth, proclaiming that man by the use of science 

 could do all things. Realizing the danger of reliance upon 

 traditional authority, he advocated the scientific method of 

 critical observation and experimentation, and he shows 

 throughout his work an insight into the spirit of modern 

 science which is remarkable. Bacon placed mathematics 

 first among the sciences. He was one of the first real astron- 

 omers in western Europe and his recommendation to Pope 

 Clement II to rectify the calendar, as was done three cen- 

 turies later, shows how far he was in advance of his time. 

 He discovered the use of spectacles, described the use of the 

 telescope and microscope, and foresaw the application of 

 various optical devices to instruments for the measurement 

 of angles. In a wonderful letter that has come down to us 

 he practically foretells the steamship, the steam engine, 

 the automobile, the suspension bridge, and the flying ma- 

 chine. His scientific imagination was great enough to rise 

 above the practical limitations of his time and see into the 

 future. Yet his greatest contribution was his insistence 

 upon real reasoning and upon experiment and research into 

 the workings of nature rather than subtilizing on empty 

 propositions and fruitless study of Aristotle. 



But the spirit of the times was averse to these ideas. 

 Bacon was so much in advance of his age, that his inventions 

 were regarded as "suspicious novelties." The leaders in 

 church and state accused him of magical practices and of 

 being in league with Satan. The ignorant minds of the age 



