Roger Bacon

Roger BaconOFM(/ˈbeɪkən/;Latin:RogerusorRogerius Baconus, Baconis, alsoFraterRogerus;c.1219/20– c.1292), also known by thescholastic accoladeDoctor Mirabilis, was apolymath, amedievalEnglish philosopher,scientist,theologianandFranciscanfriarwho placed considerable emphasis on the study ofnaturethroughempiricism. Intertwining his Catholic faith with scientific thinking, Roger Bacon is considered one of the greatest polymaths of themedieval period.
In theearly modern era, he was regarded as awizardand particularly famed for the story of hismechanicalornecromanticbrazen head. He is credited as one of the earliest European advocates of the modernscientific method, along with his teacherRobert Grosseteste. Bacon applied the empirical method ofIbn al-Haytham(Alhazen) to observations in texts attributed toAristotle. Bacon discovered the importance of empirical testing when the results he obtained were different from those that would have been predicted by Aristotle.
His linguistic work has been heralded for its early exposition of auniversal grammar, and 21st-century re-evaluations emphasise that Bacon was essentially a medieval thinker, with much of his "experimental" knowledge obtained from books in thescholastic tradition.He was, however, partially responsible for a revision of themedieval universitycurriculum, which saw the addition ofopticsto the traditionalquadrivium.
Bacon's major work, theOpus Majus, was sent toPope Clement IVin Rome in 1267 upon the pope's request. Althoughgunpowderwasfirst invented and described in China, Bacon was the first in Europe to record its formula.
Roger Bacon was born inIlchesterinSomerset,England, in the early 13th century. His birth is sometimes narrowed down to 1210,1213 or 1214,1215or 1220.The only source for his birth date is a statement from his 1267Opus Tertiumthat "forty years have passed since I first learned theAlphabetum".The latest dates assume this referred to thealphabetitself, but elsewhere in theOpus Tertiumit is clear that Bacon uses the term to refer to rudimentary studies, thetriviumorquadriviumthat formed themedieval curriculum.His family appears to have been well off.
Bacon studied atOxford.WhileRobert Grossetestehad probably left shortly before Bacon's arrival, his work and legacy almost certainly influenced the young scholarand it is possible Bacon subsequently visited him andWilliam of SherwoodinLincoln.Bacon became aMasterat Oxford, lecturing onAristotle. There is no evidence he was ever awarded a doctorate. (The titleDoctor Mirabiliswas a posthumousscholastic accolade.) A caustic cleric named Roger Bacon is recorded speaking before the king at Oxford in 1233.
In 1237 or at some point in the following decade, he accepted an invitation to teach at theUniversity of Paris.While there, he lectured onLatin grammar,Aristotelian logic,arithmetic,geometry, and the mathematical aspects ofastronomyandmusic.His faculty colleagues includedRobert Kilwardby,Albertus Magnus, andPeter of Spain,who may later become Pope asPope John XXI.TheCornishmanRichard Rufuswas a scholarly opponent.In 1247 or soon after, he left his position in Paris.
As a private scholar, his whereabouts for the next decade are uncertainbut he was likely in Oxfordc.1248–1251, where he metAdam Marsh, and in Paris in 1251.He seems to have studied most of the knownGreekandArabicworks onoptics(then known as "perspective",perspectiva). A passage in theOpus Tertiumstates that at some point he took a two-year break from his studies.
By the late 1250s, resentment againstthe king's preferential treatment ofhis émigré Poitevin relativesled toa coupand the imposition of theProvisions of OxfordandWestminster, instituting abaronialcouncil and more frequentparliaments.Pope Urban IVabsolved the king of his oath in 1261 and, afterinitial abortive resistance,Simon de Montfortled a force, enlarged due to recent crop failures, that prosecuted theSecond Barons' War. Bacon's own family were considered royal partisans:De Montfort's men seized their propertyand drove several members into exile.
In 1256 or 1257, he became afriarin theFranciscan Orderin either Paris or Oxford, following the example of scholarly English Franciscans such asGrossetesteandMarsh.After 1260, Bacon's activities were restricted by a statute prohibiting the friars of his order from publishing books or pamphlets without prior approval.He was likely kept at constant menial tasks to limit his time for contemplationand came to view his treatment as an enforced absence from scholarly life.
By the mid-1260s, he was undertaking a search for patrons who could secure permission and funding for his return to Oxford.For a time, Bacon was finally able to get around his superiors' interference through his acquaintance withGuy de Foulques,bishop of Narbonne,cardinal of Sabina, and thepapal legatewho negotiated between England's royal and baronial factions.
In 1263 or 1264, a message garbled by Bacon's messenger, Raymond of Laon, led Guy to believe that Bacon had already completed a summary of the sciences. In fact, he had no money to research, let alone copy, such a work and attempts to secure financing from his family were thwarted by the Second Barons' War. However, in 1265, Guy was summoned to a conclave atPerugiathatelectedhimPope Clement IV.William Benecor, who had previously been the courier betweenHenry IIIand the pope, now carried the correspondence between Bacon and Clement.Clement's reply of 22 June 1266 commissioned "writings and remedies for current conditions", instructing Bacon not to violate any standing "prohibitions" of his order but to carry out his task in utmost secrecy.
While faculties of the time were largely limited to addressing disputes on the known texts of Aristotle, Clement's patronage permitted Bacon to engage in a wide-ranging consideration of the state of knowledge in his era.In 1267 or '68, Bacon sent the Pope hisOpus Majus, which presented his views on how to incorporateAristotelian logicandscienceinto a new theology, supporting Grosseteste's text-based approach against the "sentence method" then fashionable.
Bacon also sent hisOpus Minus,De Multiplicatione Specierum,De Speculis Comburentibus, an optical lens,and possibly other works onalchemyandastrology.The entire process has been called "one of the most remarkable single efforts of literary productivity", with Bacon composing referenced works of around a million words in about a year.
Pope Clement died in 1268 and Bacon lost his protector. TheCondemnations of 1277banned the teaching of certain philosophical doctrines, including deterministic astrology. Some time within the next two years, Bacon was apparently imprisoned or placed underhouse arrest. This was traditionally ascribed toFranciscan Minister GeneralJerome of Ascoli, probably acting on behalf of the many clergy, monks, and educators attacked by Bacon's 1271Compendium Studii Philosophiae.
Modern scholarship, however, notes that the first reference to Bacon's "imprisonment" dates from eighty years after his death on the charge of unspecified "suspected novelties"and finds it less than credible.Contemporary scholars who do accept Bacon's imprisonment typically associate it with Bacon's "attraction to contemporary prophesies",his sympathies for "the radical 'poverty' wing of the Franciscans",interest in certainastrologicaldoctrines,or generally combative personalityrather than from "any scientific novelties which he may have proposed".
Sometime after 1278, Bacon returned to the Franciscan House at Oxford, where he continued his studiesand is presumed to have spent most of the remainder of his life. His last dateable writing—theCompendium Studii Theologiae—was completed in 1292.He seems to have died shortly afterwards and been buried at Oxford.
Medieval European philosophy often relied onappeals to the authorityofChurch Fatherssuch asSt Augustine, and on works byPlatoandAristotleonly known at second hand or through Latin translations. By the 13th century, new works and better versions – inArabicor in new Latin translations from the Arabic – began to trickle north fromMuslim Spain. In Roger Bacon's writings, he upholds Aristotle's calls for the collection of facts before deducing scientific truths, against the practices of his contemporaries, arguing that "thence cometh quiet to the mind".
Bacon also called for reform with regard totheology. He argued that, rather than training to debate minor philosophical distinctions, theologians should focus their attention primarily on theBibleitself, learning the languages of its original sources thoroughly. He was fluent in several of these languages and was able to note and bemoan several corruptions of scripture, and of the works of the Greek philosophers that had been mistranslated or misinterpreted by scholars working in Latin. He also argued for the education of theologians in science ("natural philosophy") and its addition to themedieval curriculum.
Bacon's 1267Greater Work, theOpus Majus,contains treatments ofmathematics,optics,alchemy, andastronomy, including theories on the positions and sizes of thecelestial bodies. It is divided into seven sections: "The Four General Causes of Human Ignorance" (Causae Erroris),"The Affinity of Philosophy with Theology" (Philosophiae cum Theologia Affinitas),"On the Usefulness of Grammar" (De Utilitate Grammaticae),"The Usefulness of Mathematics in Physics" (Mathematicae in Physicis Utilitas),"On the Science of Perspective" (De Scientia Perspectivae),"On Experimental Knowledge" (De Scientia Experimentali),and "A Philosophy of Morality" (Moralis Philosophia).
It was not intended as a complete work but as a "persuasive preamble" (persuasio praeambula), an enormous proposal for a reform of themedieval universitycurriculum and the establishment of a kind of library or encyclopedia, bringing in experts to compose a collection of definitive texts on these subjects.The new subjects were to be "perspective" (i.e.,optics), "astronomy" (inclusive ofastronomyproper,astrology, and thegeographynecessary to use them), "weights" (likely some treatment ofmechanicsbut this section of theOpus Majushas been lost),alchemy,agriculture(inclusive ofbotanyandzoology),medicine, and "experimentalscience", aphilosophy of sciencethat would guide the others.The section on geography was allegedly originally ornamented with amapbased on ancient and Arabic computations of longitude and latitude, but has since been lost.His (mistaken) arguments supporting the idea that dry land formed the larger proportion of the globe were apparently similar to those which later guidedColumbus.
In this work Bacon criticises his contemporariesAlexander of HalesandAlbertus Magnus, who were held in high repute despite having only acquired their knowledge ofAristotleat second hand during their preaching careers.Albert was received at Paris as an authority equal to Aristotle,AvicennaandAverroes,a situation Bacon decried: "never in the world [had] such monstrosity occurred before."
In Part I of theOpus MajusBacon recognises some philosophers as theSapientes, or gifted few, and saw their knowledge in philosophy and theology as superior to thevulgus philosophantium, or common herd of philosophers. He held Islamic thinkers between 1210 and 1265 in especially high regard calling them "both philosophers and sacred writers" and defended the integration of philosophy from apostate philosopher of the Islamic world into Christian learning.
In Part IV of theOpus Majus, Bacon proposed acalendrical reformsimilar to the latersystemintroduced in 1582 underPope Gregory XIII.Drawing onancient Greekandmedieval Islamicastronomy recently introduced to western Europe via Spain, Bacon continued the work ofRobert Grossetesteand criticised the then-currentJulian calendaras "intolerable, horrible, and laughable".
It had become apparent thatEudoxusandSosigenes's assumption of a year of 365¼ days was, over the course of centuries, too inexact. Bacon charged that this meant thecomputation of Easterhad shifted forward by 9 days since theFirst Council of Nicaeain 325.His proposal to drop one day every 125 yearsand to cease the observance of fixedequinoxesandsolsticeswas not acted upon following the death ofPope Clement IVin 1268. The eventualGregorian calendardrops one day from the first three centuries in each set of 400 years.
In Part V of theOpus Majus, Bacon discussesphysiology of eyesightand the anatomy of theeyeand thebrain, consideringlight, distance, position, and size, direct andreflectedvision,refraction,mirrors, andlenses.His treatment was primarily oriented by the Latin translation ofAlhazen'sBook of Optics. He also draws heavily onEugene of Palermo's Latin translation of the Arabic translation ofPtolemy'sOptics; onRobert Grosseteste's work based onAl-Kindi'sOptics;and, through Alhazen (Ibn al-Haytham), onIbn Sahl's work ondioptrics.
A passage in theOpus Majusand another in theOpus Tertiumare usually taken as the first European descriptions of a mixture containing the essential ingredients ofgunpowder.Partingtonand others have come to the conclusion that Bacon most likely witnessed at least one demonstration ofChinesefirecrackers, possibly obtained by Franciscans—including Bacon's friendWilliam of Rubruck—who visited theMongol Empireduring this period.The most telling passage reads:
At the beginning of the 20th century,Henry William Lovett Himeof theRoyal Artillerypublished the theory that Bacon'sEpistolacontained acryptogramgiving a recipe for the gunpowder he witnessed.The theory was criticised byThorndikein a 1915 letter toScienceand several books, a position joined byMuir,John Maxson Stillman,Steele,andSarton.Needhamet al. concurred with these earlier critics that the additional passage did not originate with Baconand further showed that the proportions supposedly deciphered (a 7:5:5 ratio ofsaltpetretocharcoaltosulphur) as not even useful for firecrackers, burning slowly with a great deal of smoke and failing to ignite inside a gun barrel.The ~41%nitratecontent is too low to have explosive properties.
Bacon attributed theSecret of Secrets(Secretum Secretorum), the Islamic "Mirror of Princes" (Arabic:Sirr al-ʿasrar), toAristotle, thinking that he had composed it forAlexander the Great. Bacon produced an edition ofPhilip of Tripoli's Latin translation, complete with his own introduction and notes; and his writings of the 1260s and 1270s cite it far more than his contemporaries did. This ledEastonand others, includingRobert Steele,to argue that the text spurred Bacon's own transformation into an experimentalist. (Bacon never described such a decisive impact himself.)The dating of Bacon's edition of theSecret of Secretsis a key piece of evidence in the debate, with those arguing for a greater impact giving it an earlier date;but it certainly influenced the elder Bacon's conception of the political aspects of his work in the sciences.
Bacon has been credited with a number ofalchemicaltexts.
TheLetter on the Secret Workings of Art and Nature and on the Vanity of Magic(Epistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae),also known asOn the Wonderful Powers of Art and Nature(De Mirabili Potestate Artis et Naturae), a likely-forged letter to an unknown "William of Paris," dismisses practices such asnecromancybut contains most of the alchemical formulae attributed to Bacon,including one for aphilosopher's stoneand another possibly forgunpowder.It also includes several passages abouthypothetical flying machinesandsubmarines, attributing their first use toAlexander the Great.On the Vanity of MagicorThe Nullity of Magicis adebunkingof esoteric claims in Bacon's time, showing that they could be explained by natural phenomena.
He wrote on the medicine ofGalen, referring to the translations ofAvicenna. He believed that the medicine of Galen belonged to an ancient tradition passed throughChaldeans,GreeksandArabs.Although he provided a negative image ofHermes Trismegistus, his work was influenced by theRenaissanceHermetic thought.Bacon's endorsement of Hermetic philosophy is evident, as his citations of the alchemical literature known as the Secretum Secretorum made several appearances in the Opus Majus. The Secretum Secretorum contains knowledge about the HermeticEmerald Tablet, which was an integral component of alchemy, thus proving that Bacon's version of alchemy was much less secular, and much more spiritual than once interpreted. The importance of Hermetic philosophy in Bacon's work is also evident through his citations of classic Hermetic literature such as the Corpus Hermeticum. Bacon's citation of the Corpus Hermeticum, which consists of a dialogue between Hermes and the pagan deityAsclepius, proves that Bacon's ideas were much more in line with the spiritual aspects of alchemy rather than the scientific aspects. However, this is somewhat paradoxical as what Bacon was specifically trying to prove in the Opus Majus and subsequent works, was that spirituality and science were the same entity. Bacon believed that by using science, certain aspects of spirituality such as the attainment of "Sapientia" or "Divine Wisdom" could be logically explained using tangible evidence. Bacon's Opus Majus was first and foremost, a compendium of sciences which he believed would facilitate the first step towards "Sapientia". Bacon placed considerable emphasis on alchemy and even went so far as to state that alchemy was the most important science. The reason why Bacon kept the topic of alchemy vague for the most part, is due to the need for secrecy about esoteric topics in England at the time as well as his dedication to remaining in line with the alchemical tradition of speaking in symbols and metaphors.
Bacon's early linguistic and logical works are theOverview of Grammar(Summa Grammatica),Summa de Sophismatibus et Distinctionibus, and theSummulae DialecticesorSummulae super Totam Logicam.These are mature but essentially conventional presentations of Oxford and Paris's terminist and pre-modistlogic and grammar.His later work in linguistics is much more idiosyncratic, using terminology and addressing questions unique in his era.
In hisGreekandHebrew Grammars(Grammatica GraecaandHebraica), in his work "On the Usefulness of Grammar" (Book III of theOpus Majus), and in hisCompendium of the Study of Philosophy,Bacon stresses the need for scholars to know several languages.Europe's vernacular languages are not ignored—he considers them useful for practical purposes such astrade,proselytism, andadministration—but Bacon is mostly interested in his era'slanguages of scienceand religion:Arabic,Greek,HebrewandLatin.
Bacon is less interested in a full practical mastery of the other languages than on a theoretical understanding of their grammatical rules, ensuring that a Latin reader will not misunderstand passages'original meaning.For this reason, his treatments of Greek and Hebrew grammar are not isolated works on their topicbut contrastive grammars treating the aspects which influenced Latin or which were required for properly understanding Latin texts.He pointedly states, "I want to describe Greek grammar for the benefit of Latin speakers".It is likely only this limited sense which was intended by Bacon's boast that hecould teach an interested pupil a new languagewithin three days.
Passages in theOverviewand the Greek grammar have been taken as an early exposition of auniversal grammarunderlying allhumanlanguages.The Greek grammar contains the tersest and most famous exposition:
However, Bacon's lack of interest in studying a literalgrammarunderlying the languages known to him and his numerous works on linguistics and comparative linguistics has promptedHovdhaugento question the usual literal translation of Bacon'sgrammaticain such passages.She notes the ambiguity in the Latin term, which could refer variously to the structure of language, to its description, and to the science underlying such descriptions: i.e.,linguistics.
Bacon states that hisLesser Work(Opus Minus) andThird Work(Opus Tertium) were originally intended as summaries of theOpus Majusin case it was lost in transit.Easton's review of the texts suggests that they became separate works over the course of the laborious process of creating afair copyof theOpus Majus, whose half-million words were copied by hand and apparently greatly revised at least once.
Other works by Bacon include his "Tract on the Multiplication of Species" (Tractatus de Multiplicatione Specierum),"On Burning Lenses" (De Speculis Comburentibus), theCommunia NaturaliumandMathematica, the "Compendium of the Study of Philosophy" and "of Theology" (Compendium Studii PhilosophiaeandTheologiae), and hisComputus.The "Compendium of the Study of Theology", presumably written in the last years of his life, was an anticlimax: adding nothing new, it is principally devoted to the concerns of the 1260s.
The Mirror of Alchimy(Speculum Alchemiae), a short treatise on the origin and composition of metals, is traditionally credited to Bacon.It espouses the Arabian theory ofmercuryandsulphurforming the other metals, with vague allusions totransmutation.Stillmanopined that "there is nothing in it that is characteristic of Roger Bacon's style or ideas, nor that distinguishes it from many unimportant alchemical lucubrations of anonymous writers of the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries", andMuirandLippmannalso considered it apseudepigraph.
The crypticVoynich manuscripthas been attributed to Bacon by various sources, including by its first recorded owner,buthistorians of scienceLynn ThorndikeandGeorge Sartondismissed these claims as unsupported,and thevellumof the manuscript has since been dated to the 15th century.
Bacon was largely ignored by his contemporaries in favour of other scholars such asAlbertus Magnus,Bonaventure, andThomas Aquinas,although his works were studied by Bonaventure,John Pecham, andPeter of Limoges, through whom he may have influencedRaymond Lull.He was also partially responsible for the addition ofoptics(perspectiva) to themedieval universitycurriculum.
By theearly modern period, the English considered him the epitome of a wise and subtle possessor offorbidden knowledge, aFaust-like magician who had tricked thedeviland so was able to go toheaven. Of these legends, one of the most prominent was that he created atalking brazen headwhich could answer any question. The story appears in the anonymous 16th-century account ofThe Famous Historie of Fryer Bacon,in which Bacon speaks with a demon but causes the head to speak by "the continuall fume of the six hottest Simples",testing his theory that speech is caused by "an effusion of vapors".
Around 1589,Robert Greeneadapted the story for the stage asThe Honorable Historie of Frier Bacon and Frier Bongay,one of the most successfulElizabethan comedies.As late as the 1640s,Thomas Brownewas still complaining that "Every ear is filled with the story of Frier Bacon, that made a brazen head to speak these words,Time is".Greene's Bacon spent seven years creating a brass head that would speak "strange and uncouth aphorisms"to enable him to encircleBritainwith a wall of brass that would make it impossible to conquer.
Unlike his source material, Greene does not cause his head to operate by natural forces but by "nigromanticcharms" and "the enchanting forces of thedevil":i.e., by entrapping adead spiritorhobgoblin.Bacon collapses, exhausted, just before his device comes to life and announces "Time is", "Time was", and "Time is Past"before being destroyed in spectacular fashion: thestage directioninstructs that "a lightening flasheth forth, and a hand appears that breaketh down the Head with a hammer".
Anecromantic headwas ascribed toPope Sylvester IIas early as the 1120s,butBrowneconsidered the legend to be a misunderstanding of a passage inPeter the Good'sc.1335Precious Pearlwhere the negligent alchemist misses the birth of his creation and loses it forever.The story may also preserve the work by Bacon and his contemporaries to construct clockworkarmillary spheres.Bacon had praised a "self-activated working model of the heavens" as "the greatest of all things which have been devised".
As early as the 16th century,natural philosopherssuch asBruno,DeeandFrancis Baconwere attempting to rehabilitate Bacon's reputation and to portray him as a scientific pioneer who had avoided the petty bickering of his contemporaries to attempt a rational understanding of nature. By the 19th century, commenters followingWhewellconsidered that "Bacon ... was not appreciated in his age because he was so completely in advance of it; he is a 16th- or 17th-century philosopher, whose lot has been by some accident cast in the 13th century".His assertions in theOpus Majusthat "theories supplied by reason should be verified by sensory data, aided by instruments, and corroborated by trustworthy witnesses"were (and still are) considered "one of the first important formulations of thescientific methodon record".
This idea that Bacon was a modern experimental scientist reflected two views of the period: that the principal form of scientific activity is experimentation and that 13th-century Europe still represented the "Dark Ages".This view, which is still reflected in some 21st-centurypopular sciencebooks,portrays Bacon as an advocate of modern experimental science who emerged as a solitary genius in an age hostile to his ideas.Based on Bacon'sapocrypha, he is also portrayed as a visionary who predicted the invention of thesubmarine,aircraft, andautomobile.Consistent with this view of Bacon as a man ahead of his time,H. G. Wells'sOutline of Historyattributes this prescient passage to him:
However, in the course of the 20th century,Husserl,Heideggerand others emphasised the importance to the modern science ofCartesianandGalileanprojections ofmathematicsover sensory perceptions of nature; Heidegger, in particular, noted the lack of such an understanding in Bacon's works.AlthoughCrombie,KuhnandSchramm[de]continued to argue for Bacon's importance to the development of "qualitative" areas of modern science,Duhem,Thorndike,CartonandKoyréemphasised the essentially medieval nature of Bacon'sscientia experimentalis.
Research also established that Bacon was not as isolated—and probably not as persecuted—as was once thought. Many medieval sources of and influences on Bacon's scientific activity have been identified.In particular, Bacon often mentioned his debt to the work ofRobert Grosseteste:his work onopticsand thecalendarfollowed Grosseteste's lead,as did his idea thatinductively-derived conclusionsshould be submitted for verification through experimental testing.
Bacon noted ofWilliam of Sherwoodthat "nobody was greater in philosophy than he";praisedPeter of Maricourt(the author of "A Letter on Magnetism")andJohn of Londonas "perfect" mathematicians;Campanus of Novara(the author of works on astronomy, astrology, and the calendar) and a Master Nicholas as "good";and acknowledged the influence ofAdam Marshand lesser figures. He was clearly not an isolated genius.The medieval church was also not generally opposed to scientific investigationandmedieval sciencewas both varied and extensive.
As a result, the picture of Bacon has changed. Bacon is now seen as part of his age: a leading figure in the beginnings of themedieval universitiesatParisandOxfordbut one joined in the development of the philosophy of science byRobert Grosseteste,William of Auvergne,Henry of Ghent,Albert Magnus,Thomas Aquinas,John Duns Scotus, andWilliam of Ockham.Lindbergsummarised:
A recent review of the many visions of Bacon across the ages says contemporary scholarship still neglects one of the most important aspects of his life and thought: his commitment to the Franciscan order.
With regard to religion's influence on Bacon's philosophy,Charles Sanders Peircenoted, "To Roger Bacon,... the schoolmen's conception of reasoning appeared only an obstacle to truth... [but] Of all kinds of experience, the best, he thought, was interior illumination, which teaches many things about Nature which the external senses could never discover, such as thetransubstantiationof bread."Later scholars have therefore viewed him as a proto-protestant.
InOxfordlore, Bacon is credited as the namesake ofFolly Bridgefor having been placed under house arrest nearby.Although this is probably untrue,it had formerly been known as "Friar Bacon's Bridge".Bacon is also honoured at Oxford by a plaque affixed to the wall of the new Westgate shopping centre.
To commemorate the 700th anniversary of Bacon's approximate year of birth,Prof. J. Erskinewrote the biographical playA Pageant of the Thirteenth Century, which was performed and published byColumbia Universityin 1914.A fictionalised account of Bacon's life and times also appears in the second book ofJames Blish'sAfter Such Knowledgetrilogy, the 1964Doctor Mirabilis.Bacon serves as a mentor to the protagonists ofThomas Costain's 1945The Black Rose,andUmberto Eco's 1980The Name of the Rose.Greene'splayprompted a less successful sequelJohn of Bordeauxand was recast as a children's story forJames Baldwin's 1905Thirty More Famous Stories Retold."TheBrazen Headof Friar Bacon" also appears inDaniel Defoe's 1722Journal of the Plague Year,Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1843 "The Birth-Mark" and 1844 "The Artist of the Beautiful", William Douglas O'Connor's 1891 "The Brazen Android" (where Bacon devises it to terrifyKing Henryinto acceptingSimon de Montfort's demands for greater democracy),John Cowper Powys's 1956The Brazen Head, andRobertson Davies's 1970Fifth Business.Bacon appears in Rudyard Kipling's 1926 story 'The Eye of Allah'.