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namax91
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Can someone give me an example of rational inquiry into the natural world during the Middle Ages, particularly by a religious person? I’m debating somebody.
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Estevao
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Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Grosseteste
This book is pretty good, or at least the review of it here:
strangenotions.com/gods-philosophers/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Grosseteste
This book is pretty good, or at least the review of it here:
strangenotions.com/gods-philosophers/
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JerryZ
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I would remind them that without the Catholic Church that copied and preserved most of what has survived of pre-Christian knowledge, the renaissance would have taken a lot longer to take place.Can someone give me an example of rational inquiry into the natural world during the Middle Ages, particularly by a religious person? I’m debating somebody.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Sure, how many would you like?Can someone give me an example of rational inquiry into the natural world during the Middle Ages, particularly by a religious person? I’m debating somebody.
Here is a small sampling:
Scientific activity in medieval Europe was maintained by the activity of a number of significant scholars, active in a wide range of scientific disciplines and working in Greek, Latin, and Arabic-speaking cultures. This list provides a brief summary of their work.
John Philoponus (ca. 490–ca. 570), also known as John the Grammarian, a Byzantine Christian philosopher, launched a revolution in the understanding of physics by critiquing and correcting the earlier works of Aristotle. In the process he proposed important concepts such as a rudimentary notion of inertia and the invariant acceleration of falling objects. Although his works were repressed at various times in the Byzantine Empire, because of religious controversy, they would nevertheless become important to the understanding of physics throughout Europe and the Arab world.
Paul of Aegina (ca. 625–ca. 690), considered by some to be the greatest Byzantine Christian surgeon, developed many novel surgical techniques and authored the medical encyclopedia Medical Compendium in Seven Books. The book on surgery in particular was the definitive treatise in Europe and the Islamic world for hundreds of years.
The Venerable Bede
The Venerable Bede (ca. 672–735), a Catholic monk of the monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow who wrote a work On the Nature of Things, several books on the mathematical / astronomical subject of computus, the most influential entitled On the Reckoning of Time. He made original discoveries concerning the nature of the tides and his works on computus became required elements of the training of clergy, and thus greatly influenced early medieval knowledge of the natural world.
Rabanus Maurus (c. 780 – 856), a Catholic monk and teacher, later archbishop of Mainz, who wrote a treatise on Computus and the encyclopedic work De universo. His teaching earned him the accolade of “Praeceptor Germaniae,” or “the teacher of Germany.”
Pope Sylvester II (c. 946–1003), a Catholic scholar, teacher, mathematician, and later pope, reintroduced the abacus and armillary sphere to Western Europe after they had been lost for centuries following the Greco-Roman era. He was also responsible in part for the spread of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system in Western Europe.
Constantine the African (c. 1020&–1087), a Catholic native of Carthage, is best known for his translating of ancient Greek and Roman medical texts from Arabic into Latin while working at the Schola Medica Salernitana in Salerno, Italy. Among the works he translated were those of Hippocrates and Galen.
Avempace (died 1138), a famous physicist from Muslim Spain who had an important influence on later physicists such as Galileo.[1] He was the first to theorize the concept of a reaction force for every force exerted.[2]
Adelard of Bath (c. 1080 – c. 1152) was a 12th-century Catholic Churchman and English scholar, known for his work in astronomy, astrology, philosophy and mathematics.[3]
Robert Grosseteste (1168–1253), Bishop of Lincoln, was the central character of the English intellectual movement in the first half of the 13th century and is considered the founder of scientific thought in Oxford. He had a great interest in the natural world and wrote texts on the mathematical sciences of optics, astronomy and geometry. In his commentaries on Aristotle’s scientific works, he affirmed that experiments should be used in order to verify a theory, testing its consequences. Roger Bacon was influenced by his work on optics and astronomy.[6]
St. Albert the Great
St. Albert the Great (1193–1280), Catholic Doctor Universalis, was one of the most prominent representatives of the philosophical tradition emerging from the Dominican Order. He is one of the thirty-three Saints of the Roman Catholic Church honored with the title of Doctor of the Church. He became famous for his vast knowledge and for his defence of the pacific coexistence between science and religion. Albert was an essential figure in introducing Greek and Islamic science into the medieval universities, although not without hesitation with regard to particular Aristotelian theses. In one of his most famous sayings he asserted: “Science does not consist in ratifying what others say, but of searching for the causes of phenomena.” Thomas Aquinas was his most famous pupil.
(cont)
I
Ignatius
Guest
(cont)
John of Sacrobosco (c. 1195 – c. 1256) was a Catholic scholar, monk, and astronomer (probably English, but possibly Irish or Scottish) who taught at the University of Paris and wrote an authoritative and influential mediaeval astronomy text, the Tractatus de Sphaera; the Algorismus, which introduced calculations with Hindu-Arabic numerals into the European university curriculum; the Compotus ecclesiasticis on Easter reckoning; and the Tractatus de quadrante on the construction and use of the astronomical quadrant.[7]
Jordanus de Nemore (late 12th, early 13th century), a Catholic cleric, was one of the major pure mathematicians of the Middle Ages. He wrote treatises on mechanics (“the science of weights”), on basic and advanced arithmetic, on algebra, on geometry, and on the mathematics of stereographic projection.
Roger Bacon (1214–94), Doctor Admirabilis, joined the Franciscan Order around 1240 where, influenced by Grosseteste, Alhacen and others, he dedicated himself to studies where he implemented the observation of nature and experimentation as the foundation of natural knowledge. Bacon wrote in such areas as mechanics, astronomy, geography and, most of all, optics. The optical research of Grosseteste and Bacon established optics as an area of study at the medieval university and formed the basis for a continuous tradition of research into optics that went all the way up to the beginning of the 17th century and the foundation of modern optics by Kepler.[8]
Theodoric Borgognoni (1205-1296) was an Italian Dominican friar and Bishop of Cervia who promoted the uses of both antiseptics and anaesthetics in surgery. His written work had a deep impact on Henri de Mondeville, who studied under him while living in Italy and later became the court physician for King Philip IV of France.
William of Saliceto (1210-1277) was an Italian surgeon of Lombardy who advanced medical knowledge and even challenged the work of the renowned Greco-Roman surgeon Galen (129-216 AD) by arguing that allowing pus to form in wounds was detrimental to the health of he patient.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1227–74), Doctor Angelicus, was an Italian theologian and friar in the Dominican Order. As his mentor Albert the Great, he is a Catholic Saint and Doctor of the Church. In addition to his extensive commentaries on Aristotle’s scientific treatises, he was also said to have written an important alchemical treatise titled Aurora Consurgens. However, his most lasting contribution to the scientific development of the period was his role in the incorporation of Aristotelianism into the Scholastic tradition.
Arnaldus de Villa Nova (1235-1313) was an alchemist, astrologer, and physician from the Kingdom of Aragon who translated various Arabic medical texts, including those of Avicenna, and performed optical experiments with camera obscura.
St. John Duns Scotus (1266–1308), Doctor Subtilis, was a member of the Franciscan Order, philosopher and theologian. Emerging from the academic environment of the University of Oxford. where the presence of Grosseteste and Bacon was still palpable, he had a different view on the relationship between reason and faith as that of Thomas Aquinas. For Duns Scotus, the truths of faith could not be comprehended through the use of reason. Philosophy, hence, should not be a servant to theology, but act independently. He was the mentor of one of the greatest names of philosophy in the Middle Ages:
Mondino de Liuzzi (c. 1270-1326) was an Italian physician, surgeon, and anatomist from Bologna who was one of the first in Medieval Europe to advocate for the public dissection of cadavers for advancing the field of anatomy. This followed a long-held Christian ban on dissections performed by the Alexandrian school in the late Roman Empire.
Jacopo Dondi dell’Orologio (1290-1359) was an Italian doctor, clock maker, and astronomer from Padua who wrote on a number of scientific subjects such as pharmacology, surgery, astrology, and natural sciences. He also designed an astronomical clock.
Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336), an English abbot, mathematician, astronomer, and horologist who designed an astronomical clock as well as an equatorium to calculate the lunar, solar and planetary longitudes, as well as predict eclipses.
Jean Buridan (1300–58) was a French philosopher and priest. Although he was one of the most famous and influent philosophers of the late Middle Ages, his work today is not renowned by people other than philosophers and historians. One of his most significant contributions to science was the development of the theory of impetus, that explained the movement of projectiles and objects in free-fall. This theory gave way to the dynamics of Galileo Galilei and for Isaac Newton’s famous principle of Inertia.
John Arderne (1307-1392) was a Catholic English physician and surgeon who invented his own anesthetic that combined hemlock, henbane, and opium. In his writings, he also described how to properly excise and remove the abscess caused by anal fistula.
Nicole Oresme (c. 1323–82) was one of the most original thinkers of the 14th century. A theologian and bishop of Lisieux, he wrote influential treatises in both Latin and French on mathematics, physics, astronomy, and economics. In addition to these contributions, Oresme strongly opposed astrology and speculated about the possibility of a plurality of worlds.[9]
Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio (c. 1330-1388) was a clockmaker from Padua, Italy who designed the astarium, an astronomical clock and planetarium that utilized the escapement mechanism that had been recently invented in Europe. He also attempted to describe the mechanics of the solar system with mathematical precision.
For a lot more, on Wikipedia search for “List of Catholic cleric-scientists”
John of Sacrobosco (c. 1195 – c. 1256) was a Catholic scholar, monk, and astronomer (probably English, but possibly Irish or Scottish) who taught at the University of Paris and wrote an authoritative and influential mediaeval astronomy text, the Tractatus de Sphaera; the Algorismus, which introduced calculations with Hindu-Arabic numerals into the European university curriculum; the Compotus ecclesiasticis on Easter reckoning; and the Tractatus de quadrante on the construction and use of the astronomical quadrant.[7]
Jordanus de Nemore (late 12th, early 13th century), a Catholic cleric, was one of the major pure mathematicians of the Middle Ages. He wrote treatises on mechanics (“the science of weights”), on basic and advanced arithmetic, on algebra, on geometry, and on the mathematics of stereographic projection.
Roger Bacon (1214–94), Doctor Admirabilis, joined the Franciscan Order around 1240 where, influenced by Grosseteste, Alhacen and others, he dedicated himself to studies where he implemented the observation of nature and experimentation as the foundation of natural knowledge. Bacon wrote in such areas as mechanics, astronomy, geography and, most of all, optics. The optical research of Grosseteste and Bacon established optics as an area of study at the medieval university and formed the basis for a continuous tradition of research into optics that went all the way up to the beginning of the 17th century and the foundation of modern optics by Kepler.[8]
Theodoric Borgognoni (1205-1296) was an Italian Dominican friar and Bishop of Cervia who promoted the uses of both antiseptics and anaesthetics in surgery. His written work had a deep impact on Henri de Mondeville, who studied under him while living in Italy and later became the court physician for King Philip IV of France.
William of Saliceto (1210-1277) was an Italian surgeon of Lombardy who advanced medical knowledge and even challenged the work of the renowned Greco-Roman surgeon Galen (129-216 AD) by arguing that allowing pus to form in wounds was detrimental to the health of he patient.
St. Thomas Aquinas (1227–74), Doctor Angelicus, was an Italian theologian and friar in the Dominican Order. As his mentor Albert the Great, he is a Catholic Saint and Doctor of the Church. In addition to his extensive commentaries on Aristotle’s scientific treatises, he was also said to have written an important alchemical treatise titled Aurora Consurgens. However, his most lasting contribution to the scientific development of the period was his role in the incorporation of Aristotelianism into the Scholastic tradition.
Arnaldus de Villa Nova (1235-1313) was an alchemist, astrologer, and physician from the Kingdom of Aragon who translated various Arabic medical texts, including those of Avicenna, and performed optical experiments with camera obscura.
St. John Duns Scotus (1266–1308), Doctor Subtilis, was a member of the Franciscan Order, philosopher and theologian. Emerging from the academic environment of the University of Oxford. where the presence of Grosseteste and Bacon was still palpable, he had a different view on the relationship between reason and faith as that of Thomas Aquinas. For Duns Scotus, the truths of faith could not be comprehended through the use of reason. Philosophy, hence, should not be a servant to theology, but act independently. He was the mentor of one of the greatest names of philosophy in the Middle Ages:
Mondino de Liuzzi (c. 1270-1326) was an Italian physician, surgeon, and anatomist from Bologna who was one of the first in Medieval Europe to advocate for the public dissection of cadavers for advancing the field of anatomy. This followed a long-held Christian ban on dissections performed by the Alexandrian school in the late Roman Empire.
Jacopo Dondi dell’Orologio (1290-1359) was an Italian doctor, clock maker, and astronomer from Padua who wrote on a number of scientific subjects such as pharmacology, surgery, astrology, and natural sciences. He also designed an astronomical clock.
Richard of Wallingford (1292-1336), an English abbot, mathematician, astronomer, and horologist who designed an astronomical clock as well as an equatorium to calculate the lunar, solar and planetary longitudes, as well as predict eclipses.
Jean Buridan (1300–58) was a French philosopher and priest. Although he was one of the most famous and influent philosophers of the late Middle Ages, his work today is not renowned by people other than philosophers and historians. One of his most significant contributions to science was the development of the theory of impetus, that explained the movement of projectiles and objects in free-fall. This theory gave way to the dynamics of Galileo Galilei and for Isaac Newton’s famous principle of Inertia.
John Arderne (1307-1392) was a Catholic English physician and surgeon who invented his own anesthetic that combined hemlock, henbane, and opium. In his writings, he also described how to properly excise and remove the abscess caused by anal fistula.
Nicole Oresme (c. 1323–82) was one of the most original thinkers of the 14th century. A theologian and bishop of Lisieux, he wrote influential treatises in both Latin and French on mathematics, physics, astronomy, and economics. In addition to these contributions, Oresme strongly opposed astrology and speculated about the possibility of a plurality of worlds.[9]
Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio (c. 1330-1388) was a clockmaker from Padua, Italy who designed the astarium, an astronomical clock and planetarium that utilized the escapement mechanism that had been recently invented in Europe. He also attempted to describe the mechanics of the solar system with mathematical precision.
For a lot more, on Wikipedia search for “List of Catholic cleric-scientists”
T
TyburnTreeHuggr
Guest
BOOM!
K
Kaninchen
Guest
William of Ockham - an amazing thinker.
I
Ignatius
Guest
Did that do it, or would you like some more ?Can someone give me an example of rational inquiry into the natural world during the Middle Ages, particularly by a religious person? I’m debating somebody.
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