Читать книгу Medicine in the Middle Ages. Extracts from "Le Moyen Age Medical" by Dr. Edmond Dupouy; translated by T. C. Minor онлайн

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Albert’s works on natural history, his botany and mineralogy are, in reality, taken from the works of Aristotle, as well as his parva naturalis, which is only a reproduction of the Organon of the Greek philosopher; nevertheless, Albert deserves credit for his good work in relighting the torch of science in the Occident.

His disciple, Roger Bacon, was also a monk; he studied in Paris and afterwards removed to Oxford, England, where he actively devoted himself to natural science, especially physics. He left behind him remarkable observations on the refraction of light; explanation of the formation of rainbows, inventing the magnifying glass and telescope. His investigations in alchemy led him to discover a combustible body similar to phosphorus, while his work on “Old Age” (De retardtandus senectutis occidentibus) entitled him to a high position among the physicians of the thirteenth century. Although one of the founders of experimental science, one of the initiators—if the expression may be used—of scientific positivism, he also devoted much time to astrology. Denounced as a magician and sorcerer by his own confreres in religion, he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and was only released a few years before his death, leaving many writings on almost every branch of science.