Not all medieval learning took the form of scholasticism.
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by a healthy interest in
science. Long encyclopedias, written in Latin, collected all available
information about the natural world. The study of physics made conspicuous
progress, partly as a result of Arab influence. Various scientific inventions,
including magnifying glasses and clocks, were worked out. The mariner's
compass, perhaps derived from the Arabs, also came into general use.
ROGER BACON, ABOUT 1214-1294 A.D.
As representative of this scientific interest we may take
the Englishman, Roger Bacon. He studied at Paris, where his attainments secured
for him the title of the "Wonderful Doctor," and lectured at Oxford.
At a period when Aristotle's influence was unbounded, Bacon turned away from
scholastic philosophy to mathematics and the sciences. No great discoveries
were made by him, but it is interesting to read a passage in one of his works
where some modern inventions are distinctly foreseen. In time, he wrote, ships
will be moved without rowers, and carriages will be propelled without animals
to draw them. Machines for flying will also be constructed, "wherein a man
sits revolving some engine by which artificial wings are made to beat the air
like a flying bird." Even in Bacon's day it would appear that men were
trying to make steamboats, automobiles, and aëroplanes.
