Detailed Instructions: In this task you will be given a text passage from a trivia quiz. You should choose the category this question belongs to from these categories: History, Science, Social Science, Fine Arts, Literature. You can only choose one category, so if in doubt, please choose the closest match.
Q: He's not Leonardo, but he was quite a Renaissance man, proposing flying machines and motorized ships. Following Alexander of Hales, whom he heard lecture in Paris, he wanted to expand university courses to include natural science. He proposed the compilation of an encyclopedia, produced under papal direction, and he ended up writing part of another by himself. The first European to describe gunpowder, For 10 points-name this English friar, philosopher and alchemist of the 13th century.
A:
Social Science