SOURCE: "Albertus Magnus: His Scientific Views," in Nature, Vol. 129, No. 3251, February 20, 1932, pp. 266-68.

In the following essay, Greenwood comments on Albert's scientific writings "as they represent the state of scientific knowledge in the Middle Ages."

"Everything there was to be known, he knew." Thus is the genius of Albert the Great characterised by the Pope in the remarkable Bull "In Thesauris Sapientiæ" declaring the blessed Bishop of Regensburg a saint and a doctor of the Church. In this "Decretal Letter", dated Dec. 16, 1931, but published on Jan. 14, 1932, Pope Pius XI. points out that Albert the Great (1206-1280) was not only a lover of God, a pastor of souls, and a master of the sacred sciences, but also a pioneer in secular knowledge. He wrote about astronomy, physics, mechanics, chemistry, mineralogy, anthropology, zoology, botany, architecture, and the applied arts; and the modern edition of his writings makes thirty-eight thick quarto...