Robert Grosseteste
c. 1175-1253
English Physicist and Philosopher
Though he is perhaps best known as the teacher of Roger Bacon (1213-1292), Robert Grosseteste distinguished himself as a scientistin his own right. He wrote on astronomy, discussing comets and advancing a theory of tides. He also presented his own theories concerning light and sound. He described light as the basic substance of the universe and postulated, with considerable accuracy, that sound was a vibrating motion passing through the air.
Grosseteste was born the son of poor parents, and at an early age was forced to earn his own living, at times resorting to begging. The mayor of his hometown, Lincoln, England, eventually recognized his intellectual abilities, and arranged to have him enrolled in school. There he distinguished himself so much that he went on to an academic career that took him successively to the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Paris.
In about 1215, Grosseteste was appointed chancellor at Oxford, a position in which he served until 1221. He became the first rector of the Franciscan monks at that institution in 1229 or 1230, then in 1235 received consecration as Bishop of Lincoln. Throughout his remaining career, he distinguished himself for his opposition to abuses of power by both King Henry III and Pope Innocent IV, whom he openly described as "the Antichrist."
Bacon, who studied under Grosseteste in the 1230s, described his teacher as one of the most learned men of his day. Grosseteste excelled in his studies of Greek and Hebrew, and wrote several works on Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).
Starting in about 1215, Grosseteste engaged in a number of scientific studies. Within a decade, he had conducted experiments in optics, using mirrors and lenses, in an attempt to explain the qualities of light in general, and of the rainbow in particular. In 1230, he published De generatione sonorum, his treatise on sound. In it, he advanced his theory of vibrations, which would be corroborated by later studies in the modern era.
As with many men of science during the Middle Ages, Grosseteste's curiosity earned him disapprobation as a suspected magician—a reputation no doubt compounded by his outspoken opposition to church and secular leaders of the day. It was reputed that he had published a study entitled Magick, and that he built a head of brass that could be used for discerning answers to questions and foretelling the future. Not only the scholar Gerbert (a.k.a. Pope Sylvester II, 945-1003) but even Grosseteste's student Bacon, repeated this bizarre tale.
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