Roger Bacon : essays contributed by various writers on the occasion of the commemoration of the seventh centenary of his birth / collected and edited by A.G. Little.
- Date:
- 1914
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Roger Bacon : essays contributed by various writers on the occasion of the commemoration of the seventh centenary of his birth / collected and edited by A.G. Little. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![be regarded as the result, the effect, of the exercise of force by material agents. Matter and Force, in short, are his fundamental physical ideas. Now Force, according to him, is invariably subject to mathematical law. It is propagated, or, as he calls it, multiplied, uniformly and regularly in space and time, and can consequently be expressed by lines and figures. Geometry is therefore absolutely necessary in order to explain the action of natural agents ; all natural philo- sophy is ultimately mathematical.1 ‘ This is a wonderful step in advance of any preceding 1 * The following passages may be cited in support of what is here said : * (i) “ Omnis res naturalis producitur in esse per efficiens et mate- riam, in quam operatur, nam haec duo concurrunt primo. Agens enim per suam virtutem movet et transmutat materiam, ut fiat res. Sed virtus efficientis et materiae sciri non potest sine magna mathe- maticae potestate, sicut nec ipsi effectus producti. ... Et sic potest ostendi, quod nihil in rebus sciri potest sine geometriae potestate. . . . Omne enim efficiens agit per suam virtutem, quam facit in materiam subj ectam ... et haec virtus vocatur similitudo, et imago, et species, et multis nominibus ... et haec species facit omnem operationem hujus mundi ; nam operatur in sensum, in intellectum, et in totam mundi materiam per rerum generationem, quia unum et idem fit ab agente naturali in quodcunque operetur, quia non habet deliberatio- nem, et ideo quicquid ei occurrat facit idem.—Op. Maj., p. 66 [ed. Bridges, i. i io]. The same at greater length in the De Multiplicatione Specierum. * (2) “ Circa vero geometricalia, respectu rerum et scientiarum sciendarum, consideravi quod res omnis, quae fit in hoc mundo, exit in esse per efficiens et materiale principium, ex quo producitur per vir- tutem efficientis, et ideo tota originalis rerum cognitio dependet ex parte efficientis et materiae.—Opus Tert. {Op. Ined. [Brewer]), pp. 107-8. * (3) “ Nec mirum si omnia sciantur per mathematicam, et omnia per hanc, quia omnes scientiae sunt annexae, licet quaelibet simul cum hac habet suam proprietatem. Unde quaelibet habet potestatem in aliam, nec potest una sciri sine alia. ... Et necesse est omnia sciri per hanc scientiam, quia omnes actiones rerum fiunt secundum specierum et virtutum multiplicationem ab agentibus hujus mundi in mate- rias patientes ; et leges hujusmodi multiplicationum non sciuntur nisi a perspectiva, nec alibi sunt traditae adhuc ; cum tamen non solum sint communes actioni in visum, sed in omnem sensum, et in totam mundi machinam, et in coelestibus et in inferioribus.—Op. Ined. [Brewer], p. 37/](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28993949_0028.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
