Roger Bacon
The First Scientist
Brian Clegg
- Back
- in
- thirteenth-century
- Europe,
- in
- the
- early
- years
- of
- the
- great
- universities,
- learning
- was
- spiced
- with
- the
- danger
- of
- mob
- violence
- and
- a
- terrifyingly
- 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.
Born
- c.1220,
- Bacon
- was
- passionately
- interested
- in
- the
- natural
- world
- and
- how
- things
- worked.
- Such
- dangerous
- topics
- were
- vetoed
- by
- his
- Order,
- and
- it
- was
- only
- when
- a
- new
- Pope
- proved
- sympathetic
- that
- he
- began
- compiling
- his
- encyclopaedia
- on
- everything
- from
- optics
- to
- alchemy
- -
- the
- synopsis
- took
- a
- year
- and
- ran
- to
- 800,000
- words
- and
- he
- was
- never
- to
- complete
- the
- work
- itself.
- Sadly,
- the
- enlightened
- Pope
- died,
- and
- Bacon
- was
- tried
- as
- a
- magician
- and
- incarcerated
- for
- ten
- years.
Legend
- transformed
- Bacon
- into
- a
- sorcerer,
- 'Doctor
- Mirabilis',
- yet
- he
- taught
- that
- all
- magic
- was
- based
- on
- fraud,
- and
- his
- books
- were
- the
- first
- flowering
- of
- the
- scientific
- thinking
- that
- would
- transform
- our
- world.
- He
- 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.
- His
- biggest
- contribution
- was
- to
- insist
- that
- a
- study
- of
- the
- natural
- world
- by
- observation
- and
- exact
- measurement
- was
- the
- surest
- foundation
- for
- truth.
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.
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