Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science

Abstract

THERE are few words which can evoke such a wealth and variety of reactions as “medieval.” To the average man, perhaps, it recalls glimpses of illuminated missals caught in a brief walk through the British Museum; the poet will murmur Donne ch' avete intelletto d' amore, while the philosopher will dream dreams of the schoolmen and their interminable arguments. In the phrase “medieval science,” however, many men of science of to-day will see nothing but a contradiction in terms, for it is a widespread idea that the Middle Ages stood for the very antithesis of all that is implied by the method and outlook of science as we understand it. Yet it requires but a little patience and insight to realise that, even in those remote and difficult times, the true spirit of science was awake and full of vigour.

Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science.

By Prof. C. H. Haskins. Pp. xiv + 411. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1924.) 28s. net.