Roger
Bacon, the son of a wealthy landowner, was born in Ilchester, Somerset
in about 1214. He
studied at Oxford University and eventually
gained a reputation for a deep knowledge of philosophy and alchemy.
Bacon devoted himself to experimental science and became known as
Doctor Mirabilis (Wonderful Teacher).
In 1247 Bacon became a
Franciscan friar. Bacon was probably the most important scholar of
the Middle Ages and wrote a great number of books on a wide variety
of subjects. This included On the Marvellous
Power of Art and Nature, On Mirrors,
Metaphysical and On
the Multiplication of Species. In his books he speculated
about flying machines, mechanical transport, diving apparatus, the
circumnavigation of the globe, a pulley system, and the construction
of microscopes and telescopes.
Bacon's most important
book was
Opus
Majus (Great Work). This 840 page book was a compendium
of all aspects of knowledge obtained by Bacon. This was followed by
Opus Minus (Lesser Work). This
book
included an attack on the Church. He argued that in "every town,
in every village... there is an infinite corruption, beginning with
the highest level." He claimed that priests were eager to "enrich
themselves indifferent to the care of souls... the monks, in their
turn, are no better, and I exempt no Order." Bacon had gone too
far and in 1277 he was sent to prison for heresy.
Bacon was chained up in
a tiny cell for seventeen years. During this period he managed to
write only one book, Collected Study of Philosophy.
Roger Bacon was released from prison just a few months before his
death on 11th June, 1294.
(1) Roger Bacon, On the
Marvellous Power of Art and Nature (c. 1267)
It is possible
that great ships and sea-going vessels shall be made
which can be guided by one man and will move with greater swiftness
than if they were full of oarsmen...
It is possible that a car
shall be made which will move with inestimable speed, and the motion
will be without the help of any living creature...
It is possible that a device
for flying shall be made such that a man sitting in the middle of
it and turning a crank shall cause artificial wings to beat the air
after the manner of a bird's flight...
Similarly it is possible
to construct a small-sized instrument for elevating and depressing
great weights, a device which is most useful in certain exigencies.
It is possible also that
devices can be made whereby, without bodily danger, a man may walk
on the bottom of the sea or of a river...
We may read the smallest
letters at an incredible distance, we may see objects however small
they may be, and we may cause the stars to appear wherever we wish...
(2) Roger Bacon, Opus Majus
(1266)
The wonders of refracted
vision are still greater; for it is easily
shown by the rules stated above (demonstrating the workings of lenses)
that very large objects can be made to appear small, and the reverse,
and very distant objects will seem very close at hand, and conversely.
For we can so shape transparent bodies, and arrange them in such a
way with respect to our sight and objects of vision, that the rays
will be refracted and bent in any direction that we desire, and under
any angle we wish we shall see the object near or at a distance.
(3) Roger Bacon, Opus Majus
(1266)
We see that two herbs grow
out of the ground at the same
time without anything in common, and for this reason twins in the
womb of their mother receive a lot of difference in nature, so
that afterwards they have different manners, and follow different
arts and occupations through their lives.
(4) Roger Bacon, Opus Majus
(1266)
He who is ignorant of mathematics cannot know the other
sciences and the things of this world . . . Moreover, what is worse,
men who arc ignorant of mathematics do not perceive their ignorance,
and therefore seek no remedy. While, on the other hand, knowledge
of this science prepares the mind and elevates it to a sure knowledge
of all things, so that if it perceives the roots of wisdom which surround
this science and applies these roots to an inquiry into other sciences
and things, then it will be able to know all things in sequence without
doubt or error, and in case
and power.
(5) Roger Bacon, Opus Majus
(1266)
There are two modes of acquiring knowledge, namely by
reasoning and experience.
Reasoning draws a conclusion . . . but does not make the conclusion
certain, nor does it remove doubt so that the mind may be confident
it has reached the truth, unless the mind discovers (the conclusion)
by the path of experience.
(6) Roger Bacon, Opus Tertium
(c. 1267)
From the flashing and flaming
of certain igneous mixtures and
the terror inspired by their noise wonderful consequences ensue. As
a simple example may be mentioned: the noise and flame generated by
the powder, known in divers places, composed of saltpetre, charcoal,
and sulphur. When a quantity of the powder no bigger than a man's
finger is wrapped up in a piece of parchment and ignited, it explodes
with a blinding flash and a stunning noise. If a larger quantity were
used, or if the case were made of some solid material, the explosion
would of course be much
more violent and the flash and din altogether unbearable.
| Back
in thirteenth-century Europe, in the
early years of the great universities, learning was spiced with
the danger of mob violence and repressive religious censorship.
Roger Bacon, a humble and devout English friar, seems an unlikely
figure to challenge the orthodoxy of his day - yet he risked
his life to establish the basis for true knowledge. Bacon advanced
the understanding of optics, made geographical breakthroughs
later used by Columbus, predicted everything from horseless
carriages to the telescope, and stressed the importance of mathematics
to science, a significance ignored for 400 years. Bacon's greatest
contribution was to insist that a study of the natural world
by observation and exact measurement was the surest foundation
for truth. Brian Clegg uncovers the realities of life in a medieval
university and friary, setting out the shadowy facts of Bacon's
life alongside his writings. The result is both a fascinating
biography and a picture of the age. (Brian
Clegg, Constable & Robinson, 1 84119 618 5, £16.99)
|
Brian
Clegg, The First Scientist (Constable)
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