Roger Bacon · Science

Mathematics: The Door and Key of the Sciences

Bacon&rsquo;s conviction, argued in Part IV of the <em>Opus Majus</em>, that all natural knowledge rests on mathematics - that without geometry and number the sciences and the world cannot be understood - and his physics of &lsquo;the multiplication of species,&rsquo; in which every natural power spreads through space along geometrical lines.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Bacon called mathematics &lsquo;the gate and key of the sciences&rsquo; and argued that all the other sciences and the things of this world depend on it, grounding this in his doctrine of the &lsquo;multiplication of species&rsquo; - the geometrical spreading of natural powers like light. Explain why…

Leads to Robert Grosseteste.

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