SOURCE: "Roger Bacon," in A History of Magic and Experimental Science during the First Thirteen Centuries of Our Era, The Macmillan Company, 1923, pp. 616-87.

Pope Clement IV who requested of Bacon a written, fair copy of his philosophy and received Opus Majus in return.

In the following excerpt from a lengthy chapter in his important History of Magic and Experimental Science, Thorndike turns from a brief overview of Bacon's life to examine Opus Maius, Opus Minus, and Opus Tertium, Bacon's contributions in the development of modern experimental science, and his attitude toward magic and astrology. Throughout his essay, Thorndike scornfully emphasizes Bacon's gullibility and derivitiveness.

His Criticism of and Part in Medieval Learning

We turn from Bacon's life to his writings, and shall center our attention upon his three works to the pope. In them he had his greatest opportunity and did his best work both in style...