Abstract
ROGER BACON (1214-1294) produced in 1267 his four-volume Latin encyclopaedic treatise (“Opus Majus”) on the foundations of knowledge, with two supplements dealing with physical science and mathematics. The “Communia Mathematica ”appears to be an amplified version of the second supplement, assembled from various manuscripts by someone unknown, probably about 1428. For the modern reader the interest of the work is mainly in showing what mathematical literature and teaching were available at the time, and what Bacon thought of the teaching of Boethius, who moulded scientific thought of the early Middle Ages until the complete acceptance of Aristotle's physics. The first part of the “Communia” deals with the relation of mathematics to other branches of learning. The second part considers certain parts of mathematics in detail, particularly the theory of proportion. The criticism of some of Euclid's assumptions and definitions shows that Bacon was far in advance of this time. As is well known, he was accused of magic and condemned to imprisonment for life.
Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi
Fasc. 16: Communia Mathematica Fratris Rogeri. Partes prima et seconda. Nunc primum edidit Dr. Robert Steele. Pp. xii + 162. (Oxford: Clarendon Press ; London: Oxford University Press, 1940.) 15s. net.
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Opera hactenus inedita Rogeri Baconi. Nature 149, 125 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149125d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149125d0