From the days of the Greeks, no one had had so keen an
appreciation of what experiment meant in the development of human
knowledge, and he was obsessed with the idea, so commonplace to us, that
knowledge should have its utility and its practical bearing. "His chief
merit is that he was one of the first to point the way to original
research--as opposed to the acceptance of an authority--though he
himself still lacked the means of pursuing this path consistently. His
inability to satisfy this impulse led to a sort of longing, which is
expressed in the numerous passages in his works where he anticipates
man's greater mastery over nature."(23)
(23) Dannemann: Die Naturwissenschaften in ihrer Entwicklung und
in ibrem Zusammenhange, Leipzig, 1910, Vol. I, pp. 278-279.
Bacon wrote a number of medical treatises, most of which remain in
manuscript. His treatise on the "Cure of Old Age and the Preservation of
Youth" was printed in English in 1683.(24) His authorities were largely
Arabian. One of his manuscripts is "On the Bad Practices of Physicians."
On June 10, 1914, the eve of his birth, the septencentenary of Roger
Bacon will be celebrated by Oxford, the university of which he is the
most distinguished ornament.
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