Roger Bacon 3 



for fair copies of Bacon's works, who, thinking that nothing 

 he had yet written was good enough, set out on a more 

 ambitious undertaking, of which the " Opus Majus " was the 

 first instalment. In this work he displayed such indepen- 

 dence of thought, and attacked the prevailing ideas so 

 forcibly, that his opponents were converted into bitter 

 enemies. They saw their opportunity and used it when 

 Clement died. Accusations of heresy were raised, and 

 Roger Bacon was condemned to prison by the General of the 

 Franciscan Order in 1277. He remained in captivity till 

 shortly before his death, which took place in 1292. 



With Roger Bacon England took the lead in laying the 

 foundation of modern science. While the scholastic tradi- 

 tion held the whole of Europe in bond he stood alone, 

 fearlessly holding up the torch of enlightenment: but its 

 rays fell on eyes that could or would not see. More than 

 three barren centuries separated Bacon from the next great 

 scientific figures, William Gilbert and John Napier. 



Gilbert (1540-1603) has been called the father of electric 

 and magnetic science. He belonged to an old Suffolk family, 

 was born at Colchester, and after a distinguished career 

 at Cambridge, spent three years in Italy and other parts 

 of Europe. On his return he settled down in London as a 

 medical practitioner, and soon gained a reputation which 

 secured him many honours, and among them the appoint- 

 ment as physician to Queen Elizabeth. His chief work is 

 described in a volume published in 1600 under the title of 

 " De magnete, magnetisque corporibus et de magno magneto 

 tellure." 



It was known to the Greek philosophers that a certain 

 mineral originally found in Magnesia had tin power of 

 attracting small pieces of iron. In the twelfth century the 

 knowledge of the compass was brought to Europe. The 

 Chinese, who had been familiar with it in very early times, 

 already knew that the direction in which the needle points 

 was a little to one side of North, and Columbus discovered 

 that this deviation differed in different localities. Nearly 

 a century later, Robert Norman, a British sailor, had 

 observed that the force which acted on the needle was not, 

 as had generally been assumed, directed upwards towards 



A 2 



