Derran Mattox, age 14, of Utica, N.Y., for his question:

WHO WAS ROGER BACON?

Roger Bacon was one of the greatest thinkers, or philosophers, of his time. Today he is remembered as one of England's earliest scientists. His greatest interest was in science and in improving the schools and ways of teaching.

Born about 1220, Bacon studied at Oxford University and the University of Paris. He often experimented with chemicals and with unusual scientific tools. Many people thought he used witchcraft or black magic.

Bacon liked to experiment. Through experiments he learned about lenses and how they magnify. He wrote of the process for making gunpowder. Through his study of astronomy, he found that the calendar then being used was incorrect, and he made a better one.

Bacon believed that there were only two ways to learn: By experience, which included experimenting, and by reason or logical thinking.

Most scholars of Bacon's time accepted what earlier scholars taught. Bacon's way of learning was unusual because he doubted everything that could not be proved.