December 18, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



895 



XI. Eoger Baoon : His Relations to Alchemy and 

 Chemistry. By M. M. Pattison Muir, 

 M.A., rellow, and formerly Prselector in 

 Chemistry, of Gonville and Caius College, 

 Cambridge. 

 XII. Eoger Bacon and Gunpowder. By Lieuten- 

 ant-Colonel H. W. L. Hime, (late) Eoyal 

 Artillery. 



XIII. Eoger Bacon and Medicine. By E. With- 



ington, M.A., M.B. 



XIV. Eoger Bacon in English Literature. By Sir 



John Edwin Sandys, Litt.D., LL.D., 

 F.B.A., F.E.S.L., Public Orator in the 

 University of Cambridge. 

 Appendix. Eoger Bacon 's Works, with references 



to the MSS. and Printed Editions. 



By A. G. Little. 



A critical discussion of these fourteen es- 

 says is obviously beyond the power of any 

 one individual. However, any scholar in any 

 field will find much that is of interest and 

 even of profit, in intellectual stimulus, in all 

 of these essays. Eoger Bacon came at a time 

 when the world of the Middle Ages was re- 

 awakening. The learning of the Greeks and 

 the Byzantines, the learning of the Jews, and 

 the learning of the Arabs, were made acces- 

 sible to the scholars of that time by the nu- 

 merous translators of the eleventh, twelfth 

 and thirteenth centuries; although Eoger 

 Bacon had much to say about the inaccuracy 

 of many of the translations with which his 

 readers were familiar, the fact remains that to 

 the authors of these works is due in large 

 measure the revival of learning which was in 

 full swing in the thirteenth century. It need 

 then occasion no surprise that much of the 

 material which is found in the writings of 

 Eoger Bacon may be found in the writings 

 of Greek, Jewish and particularly Arabic 

 scholars who preceded him. So, too, as Baur 

 points out, the teachings of Bacon may fre- 

 quently be traced to the influence of Eobert 

 Grosseteste, the great Bishop of Lincoln and 

 a scholar entirely of the type of Bacon. Nor 

 does this dependence upon earlier writers di- 

 minish the importance and significance of 

 Bacon's work. There are now and then those 

 geniuses who proceed far in advance of the 



main body of scholars; but their work in a 

 large measure is lost unless, in some way, the 

 great mass of scholars can arrive at the point 

 to which the advance guard has attained. 

 Only in this way can we understand how it 

 happened that the work of Archimedes, so 

 much in advance of its age, exerted so little 

 infiuence for fifteen hundred years. Archi- 

 medes lacked continuators and those who 

 could popularize his work. 



The modern point of view in many discus- 

 sions is most striking. Bacon would have the 

 ancient languages studied for a more com- 

 plete and precise understanding of the Scrip- 

 tures; he urged the study of modern lan- 

 guages in order to promote trade, to facilitate 

 political relationships, and for the conserva- 

 tion of peace. The accounts of the great 

 travellers of his time, and the geography of 

 the world, were of intense interest to him. 

 His interest in mechanical discoveries, and a 

 somewhat prophetic vision, are evident in his 

 statement : " I have not seen a flying machine, 

 and I do not know any one who has seen one; 

 but I know a wise man who has thought out 

 the principle of the thing." 



This work can be commended in its en- 

 tirety to all students of science. The volume 

 is interesting and instructive in many ways. 

 Any one who reads the work through will 

 have obtained a very clear idea of the intel- 

 lectual activity, and the life of the students 

 in the Middle Ages, as well as a renewed ap- 

 preciation of the underlying unity of all 

 learning. 



The first three essays in the work are 

 written in English, German and French, re- 

 spectively; the following three are written by 

 a Cardinal of the Eoman Church, a Jew and 

 an American. May this kind of international 

 cooperation speedily return, and wipe out the 

 memory of these terrible days when gun- 

 powder, possibly invented by Eoger Bacon 

 and used by him as an amusement for chil- 

 dren, is being used by civilized man for the 

 destruction of his fellows. 



Louis C. Kaepinski 



TJniveksity op Michigan 

 Ann Akbok, Michigan 



