SOURCE: "The Attitude of Roger Bacon to the Scientiaof Albertus Magnus," in Albertus Magnus and the Sciences, Commemorative Essays 1980, edited by James A. Weisheipl, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1980, pp. 53-72.

Hackett has written extensively on Bacon's works. In the following excerpt, he examines four of Bacon's works to discern the identity of the "unnamed master" derided by Bacon in his writings and to determine the reason for Bacon's objections to the science of this mysterious authority.

Since the rediscovery of the works of Roger Bacon in the nineteenth century, it has been customary to see the Doctor mirabilis as a controversialist, early scientist, philosopher, and theologian. Many scholarly judgments have been passed on the merits of his work. Some would see him as a schoolman who never quite reached the stature of an Aquinas or a Bonaventure. Others would see him as a very significant representative...