Reviews for The First Scientist: A Life of Roger Bacon

The average rating for The First Scientist: A Life of Roger Bacon based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-12-12 00:00:00 Richard Cleveland Clegg argues that Roger Bacon (not to be confused with Francis) is indeed the first true scientist? Why? Four reasons: he contended that math was foundational, he argued for openness to new ideas, he was committed to communication as a way for science to advance, and he pioneered experimental science. What is stunning is to discover that Bacon spent twenty years in prison as a result of sending his Opus Majus to the Pope, who inconveniently died before reading it, leaving it in the hands of intolerant leaders of his order. One can only wonder what he might have accomplished had he been at liberty for these years. As it is, he did major work in optics, calendar reform, and geography and predicted many inventions only achieved in modern times. All this in the thirteenth century.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-11-10 00:00:00 Mark Thomas Barnes A fun read on Roger Bacon. Wait. whose Roger Bacon? Well, he is not Francs Bacon. Some call him the first real scientist.... maybe. But I like him because he actually spent more money on books than I do. Yep, in today's terms some $10 million! Excellent. He was at Oxford when there were not halls or buildings there yet and then at Paris as Notre Dame was in the last stages of completion. There he supposedly met with Roger Rubruck--just back from the Khan's court in Mongolia. Also known as Doctor Mirabilis, he was John Dee's hero (that says a lot since Dee was one of the Renaissance's greatest quacks and geniuses. Clegg's biography is a great read and he does a fantastic job in explaining medieval optics and the species--which is why I wanted to read the book since I am reading al-Kindi but it was Bacon who really unpacked al-Kindi's theories. So, why is he known as the west's first true scientist? Well, scientists today like him because he insisted that all since have as its underpinning math and also experimental data (the latter was very radical). He is also noted for his insistence on objective information without bias (like Galileo and so many other famous early scientists he believed that science should be in the service of God because by knowing nature, we know God--as well as his commitment to communication and the dissemination of knowledge. For more, there is a great book called Baroque Science that I highly recommend. Enjoyable read for sure.