nPostednJune 11, 2013
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Wenare not very sure of the dates of births and deaths of people whonlived a very long time ago. Most societies did not keep records ofnsuch things, except for the kings and queens; even if records werenkept, many were on paper and have been destroyed; even the recordsnthat lasted long enough for modern scholars to copy them may notnprovide us with certain birth and death dates. After all, people havennot used the same calendar all over the world, for all times, right?
Wenare not very sure of the dates of births and deaths of people whonlived a very long time ago. Most societies did not keep records ofnsuch things, except for the kings and queens; even if records werenkept, many were on paper and have been destroyed; even the recordsnthat lasted long enough for modern scholars to copy them may notnprovide us with certain birth and death dates. After all, people havennot used the same calendar all over the world, for all times, right?n
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nSonwe are not totally sure that Roger Bacon died on this date in 1294.nHeck, we’re not even totally sure that he died in 1294!
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nHowever,nthis is Bacon’s traditional death-date, and I wanted to talk aboutnhim. So let’s keep the question mark in mind as we explore DoctornMirabilis, or “Wonderful Teacher.”
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nRogernBacon (AKAnDoctor Mirabilis) wasnan English philosopher. He spent his whole life thinking, studying,nteaching, and writing. The teaching occurred at Oxford and thenUniversity of Paris, in France. After he became a friar in thenFranciscan order, he was no longer allowed to publish books ornpamphlets without getting them approved. However, Bacon was a friendnof sorts with the Pope, and he was invited to write about philosophynand science and theology—a request that allowed him to get aroundnthe Franciscan law.
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nHisnprotector, Pope Clement, died in 1268, and a decade later Bacon maynhave been put into prison (or perhaps house arrest). Wherever he was,nBacon continued his studies of mathematics, astronomy (astrology),nalchemy, optics, and languages. n
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nSo…whynare we talking about Roger Bacon?
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| You may be wondering what alchemy is, or was. Well, you might say that it was the proto- science that developed into the sciences of chemistry and medicine. By the way, Bacon is usually credited with |
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nBaconnwas one of the thinkers during the Middle Ages who urged thatnbeautiful, simple concepts that philosophers dream up should be, asnmuch as possible, tested. In other words, Bacon was one of the earlynvoices supporting empiricism—the idea that experiments andnobservations can tell us about reality, about the way things reallynare, why things are the way they are, and about causes-and-effects.
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n(Thinkersnsuch as Aristotle and the Muslim scientist Alhazen made even earlierncontributions to this philosophy and the scientific method. These two were majorninspirations for Bacon’s work.) n
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nThisninsistence on checking ideas against the real world is verynimportant. Without it, any cockamamie idea can be proposed and evennbelieved—and, trust me, plenty of cockamamie ideas have been bothnproposed and believed. Experiments and observation can help us findnout what is really true!
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nAlsonon this date:
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nCorn on the Cob Day
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KamehamehanDay in Hawaii
KamehamehanDay in Hawaiin
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nAnniversarynof the premiere of the movie E.T.
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest pages on Junenholidays, historicalnanniversaries in June,nand Junenbirthdays.
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest pages on Julynholidays, historicalnanniversaries in July, and Julynbirthdays.
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