Because of his emphasis on the importance of mathematics and experimentation, the English scholastic philosopher Roger Bacon, c.1214-92, is often considered an early advocate of the methods of modern science.
Most of what is known today about Bacon comes from autobiographical references in his own writings. He received much of his university training in Paris, where he taught philosophy from about 1240 to 1247; after that he went to Oxford, where he was influenced by the ideas of Robert Grosseteste. About 1257, Bacon became a Franciscan friar, and for the rest of his life his outspokenness and unorthodox opinions involved him in frequent difficulties with the superiors of his order.
In 1267-68, at the request of Pope Clement IV, Bacon prepared three works, the Opus maius, Opus minus, and Opus tertium, in which he outlined proposals for a reform of education, arguing that a study of the natural world using observation and exact measurement was the surest foundation for a knowledge of the world's creator. In place of the curriculum followed in medieval universities, he recommended the study of languages, mathematics, alchemy, and experimental sciences--especially optics. In later works, the Compendium of the Study of Philosophy (1272) and Compendium of the Study of Theology (1292), he harshly criticized the philosophical and theological methods of his day.
Suspected of promoting "dangerous novelties," Bacon was imprisoned for a time (probably between 1277 and 1279) by order of the minister-general of the Franciscans. After his death Bacon acquired the reputation of having been a sorcerer and wonder-worker. Later, because he had speculated about such things as gunpowder, flying machines, telescopes, and mechanically driven carriages, he became celebrated for his foresight. Modern research has shown that although Bacon borrowed many of his ideas from others, he did have a real influence on subsequent scientific thought.
Bibliography: Crowley, Theodore, Roger Bacon: The Problem of the Soul in His Philosophical Commentaries (1950); Easton, S. C., Roger Bacon and His Search for a Universal Science (1952); Westacott, Evelyn, Roger Bacon in Life and Legend (1953; repr. 1974).
Last modified on: Friday, October 17, 1997.