Page 125 - The Qur'an Leads the Way to Science

Scientists of Faith

SCIENTISTS OF FAITH

WHO LIVED IN THE PAST

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R Roger Bacon (1220-1292)
"The grace of faith illuminates greatly." 81
Called Doctor Mirabiles (Wonderful Doctor) by his contemporaries,
Roger Bacon was a British scientist and theologian who laid great
emphasis on the experimental method, and put an end to many archaic
customs practiced in the science of his time. Bacon foresaw a number of
technological breakthroughs that were to come hundreds of years later,
which were hard to even fathom at the time. Steamboats, trains, cars,
planes, cranes, and suspension bridges are only some of the innovations
he anticipated in the 13th century.
In a letter to a friend, Bacon wrote:
First, by the figurations of art there be made instruments of navigation
without men to row them, as great ships to brooke the sea, only with
one man to steer them, and they shall sail far more swiftly than if they
were full of men; also chariots that shall move with unspeakable force
without any living creature to stir them. 82
Believing that light was created by God to enable man to see, Bacon
conducted observations in this field. He defined the magnifying
characteristic of optic lenses and their places of usage. He was the first to
note that the light emitted by stars does not reach the Earth

Bacon, who, back in the 13th century, anticipated numerous
technological innovations, said "Then this science as regards the
commonwealth of believers is useful, as we saw in its special
knowledge of the future, present, and past."

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