ave made such declarations
have never taken the trouble to look into the works of the great
writers of this period. Anyone who does so, at once changes his
opinion in this matter. Humboldt, for instance, the great German
natural philosopher, has given ample credit to these colleagues of
his, who lived some six centuries before him, yet did such wonderful
work in spite of their inadequate means and the fact that they were as
yet only groping in the darkness of the beginnings of science.
Whewell, the English historian of the inductive sciences, has also
proved sympathetic to these old philosophers, and especially to
Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon. Those who so ignorantly but with a
pretense of knowledge make little of the science of the Middle Ages,
know nothing of the real accomplishments of such men as Bacon,
Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Arnold of Villanova, nor Vincent of
Beauvais, the encyclopedist. As is always the case, however, the
ignorance of supposed historians of science and education in this
matter, has only served to emphasize the presumptuous assurance of
their declarations as to the intolerance of the Middle Ages toward
scientific progress. It is ever the ignorant man who has the least
doubt about his opinions.

Unfortunately many students of science followed these writers
apparently without a hint of the deception that was being practiced on
them. Not infrequently the prestige or institutional position of the
writers has been enough to carry their works into a vogue which has
been heightened by the existence of religious prejudice and {21}
intolerance. Usually such motives are supposed to be far distant from
the scientific mind. In this case they have been, to some degree at
least, unconsciously present. There has unfortunately been a definite
persuasion that there could be nothing good in the Middle Ages, and
therefore there has been no surprise that evil should be found there.
Perhaps there is nothing sadder in present day education, than the
fact that serious students and professors of science should thus have
been led astray. Nothing shows more clearly the superficiality of our
education than the fact that these unfounded statements with regard to
the greatest period of education in history have been so universally
accepted with so little question.

A moment's consideration of the conditions in which the universities
developed will show how unreasonable is the thought that the Church or
the Pop