Melissa McDonald, age 16, of Monroe, La., for her question:
WHO WAS ROGER BACON?
We remember Roger Bacon as one of the leading figures in the development of science during the Middle Ages. He was an English philosopher and also one of the top scientists of his day.
Bacon was born in Somerset, England, in 1214 and studied philosophy and liberal arts at Oxford University. When he left Oxford in his early 20s, he became a teacher.
Later Bacon went back to school, earning an additional degree from the University of Paris.
Because of poor health, Bacon gave up teaching and in 1247, when he was 33 years old, he went back to Oxford University as a student. During the next 10 years he was involved in intensive study of mathematics, technology and especially optics.
In 1257 Bacon decided to join the Franciscan religious order. He went back to Paris and tried to bring about educational reform within the church. He devoted all of his energies to discovering and spreading a system of all knowledge.
A dispute developed within the Franciscan order and Bacon's superiors refused to allow him to publicize his work, although they did allow him to continue his writing.
Bacon compiled a summary of his system of knowledge that was published in 1267. It was called "Opus Maius" or "Longer Work." It was regarded as Bacon's most important work.
Later Bacon wrote on astronomy, mathematics and physics.
Although Bacon's major achievement came in science, he also wrote on theology and philosophy. His writings showed the influence of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the Christian theologian Saint Augustine and the Arab philosopher Avicenna.
Bacon died in 1292 at the age of 78.
Bacon is known as a founder of experimental science and one of the early researchers in the study of optics, the branch of physics that studies light and vision. His writings and experiments helped to lay a foundation for the revolution in science that came along in Europe during the 1500s and the 1600s.
Bacon demonstrated the usefulness and interdependency of mathematics and science experiments in optics, his primary field of study. He used the inductive method to study the formation of rainbows.
Bacon also was the first to describe the exact anatomy of the eye and the optic nerves.
Late in his life, Bacon was criticized by the church for some of his writings. He was imprisoned in a Paris convent for 14 years.
Shortly before his death he completed his "Compendium of Theological Studies," in which he denounced what he considered to be the evils of the Christian world.