Customer Reviews (16)

Well written but lacking sincerity
Some of the exhastive and unnecessary "history lesson" is very well written, and there is evidence of considerable research. There are some fascinating studies of certain personalities.
I wish the author(s) could have let go of the anti-religious sentiments for a while and tried to look at the history of western thought as not totally oriented toward demonstratable knowledge and the scientific outlook.
He tries to pit philosophies/outlooks against one another but does not explain how they were synthesized to create something new.
The presentation of the R.C. Church is outrageously stereotypical, (the word dogma is used over and over again) revealing very little knowledge of theologic principles the proper mode of examining medieval history. The author relies so much on his own philosophic lense that it truly cripples what otherwise could have been a fantastic opus. It is not necessary to lay aside scientific rationalism in order to give a square and balanced review of the Church, who, after all, invented the "University"

I gave it only two stars only in order to lower its overall rating. This is retribution for having not been a sincere historian.

Good read, misleading title
As most other reviewers have stated, the book title is misleading.

The buildup to Roger Bacon and the manuscript is the first 200 of the total of 300 pages. Then there is a rush to squeeze in the ending.

It would have been nice to have more details about current attempts to read the manuscript.

Otherwise, it is actually a very easy and enjoyable book to read.

The good, the bad and the misleading
Without a doubt, this book is the most difficult to rate of any I have reviewed so far. The book is advertised as a tale of Roger Bacon and the Voynich Manuscript, both fascinating topics. But as previous reviewers have noted, the authors frequently go off on tangents, presumably in an effort to provide added context. Some of these digressions are riveting; some are distracting. I skipped several pages and even a whole chapter without losing any of the storyline. More than once I found myself asking, "How does this relate to Roger Bacon or the Voynich Manuscript?" The authors do eventually tie everything back to one of those subjects, but seldom with an economy of words.

I appreciated the conversational style the authors used in telling the story. Their flippant tone, on the other hand, made me wince. Think Thomas Cahill-type narrative without the pleasant aftertaste.

Ulimately, what soured me on this book was the apparent ax the authors have to grind with the Catholic Church and the degree to which it infected their writing. On page 42, they write that scholasticism "matured into the most powerful tool for maintaining and perpetuating doctrine that the Church had ever seen." The scholastics "remained uninterested in uncovering new knowledge, only in cementing the unlikely but now solid bond between Aristotle's logic and the Bible's revelation." That's pure, unvarnished B.S. Please compare those statements with the following:

"It is difficult to arrive at a satisfactory definition of Scholasticism that would apply to all the thinkers to whom the label has been affixed. ... The Scholastics, by and large, were committed to the use of reason as an indispensable tool in theological and philosophical study, and to dialectic ... as the method of pursuing issues of intellectual interest." (Thomas E. Woods Jr., "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization, p. 58)

"What made it possible for Western civilization to develop science and the social sciences in a way that no other civilization had ever done before? The answer, I am convinced, lies in a pervasive and deep-seated inquiry that was a natural consequence of the emphasis on reason that began in the Middle Ages. ... It was quite natural for scholars ... to probe into subject areas that had not been explored before, as well as to discuss possibilities that had not previously been entertained." (Edward Grant, "God and Reason in the Middle Ages" p. 356)

The Goldstones argue passionately that Roger Bacon got hosed and history never gave him his due. That's probably true. But their cri de coeur glosses over the fact that, slight or no slight, Roger Bacon was a monk and therefore a committed adherent to Catholicism. Also noteworthy is that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II is glorified in this book, which stands in stark contrast to his portrayal by at least one modern biographer. In short, if you'd like an at-times-gripping detective story/biography and an introduction to a plethora of historical luminaries, cherry pick from this book. If you are committed to learning the truth, get both sides and take "The Friar and The Cipher" with a bushel of salt.

Strange Book
The book is about a manuscript discovered in 1918. It is a fascinating manuscript written in a complicated cipher with eclectic illustrations in the margins. The most likely author of this manuscript is Roger Bacon. The authors then spend most of the book putting Roger Bacon in his cultural milieu and summarizing intellectual history in Western Europe until the 20th century. Don't get me wrong, they tell the story in a fun way, but they don't even mention the manuscript again until page 200. Then the authors detail a very tentative hypothesis of how the book ended up where it did. The authors can not even state with certainty whether this manuscript is Bacon's or not. They used words like "probably" or " most likely." I became bored. The authors tell an okay story, the story is well paced or even too fast, they obviously know history, but when it becomes apparent this is all conjecture, I lost interest. They simplify the history too much. They strain to make the scholasticism of Aquinas and the scientific method of the Bacons (Roger and and later Francis) the major conflict in the intellectual history of mankind. I didn't buy all their conclusions and commentary.

In other words, they cover far too much: too much history and too much philosophy. They did not spend enough time on the manuscript. I felt cheated. The title is very misleading.

Is this about philosophy or about a book?
Don't you hate it when a book description isn't completely accurate?While I wouldn't necessarily say that's true in the case of Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone's The Friar and the Cipher, it does come very close.Ostensibly, the book is about the Voynich Manuscript, a document that has never been deciphered and which many believe was written by the noted thinker Roger Bacon, who lived in the thirteenth century.There has been a lot of controversy about this manuscript and its possible authorship, with many people believing that there's no way that Roger Bacon could have written it, or that it must be a hoax.It appears to be in some sort of code with strange illustrations in the margins.And yes, the book does discuss the great debate about this, detailing the many attempts to decode it and the many theories about who might have written it.Was it all a hoax committed by a friend of John Dee, Queen Elizabeth's trusted advisor, back in the late sixteenth century?

Of course, the problem is that this debate begins on page 223 of the edition I have.The book runs just over 300 pages, which presents kind of a problem.The rest of the book is a history of Western thought and the constant struggle between science and religion in the Middle Ages, when the Catholic church was all-powerful.It gives a very detailed history of Roger Bacon, supposedly to give the background to the debate on the manuscript.It also details his philosophical adversaries, as well as demonstrating how Europe came out of the Dark Ages due to the rediscovery of some of Aristotle's works.In fact, the book goes all the way back to Aristotle himself, and his differences with Plato.

All of this is fascinating stuff, and if you're in the mood for a discourse on logical thought and its struggles to get through religious dogma, then this book is definitely for you.I know I enjoyed it immensely.I just wish it had been better advertised as such.It covered a lot of ground that I was slightly familiar with, yet for which I had no real details.The Saracen empire was stretching into Spain at this point, and many of its scholars were well aware of Aristotle and his ideas of Logic.In fact, many of these scholars faced their own persecution from conservative Imams and other Moslem leaders, as the Goldstones show us in this book.As Europeans began to push back against this invasion, parts of Spain were recaptured, and these Moslem studies of Aristotle began to spread over Europe.

The Gladstones do a really effective job in giving this history in a concise, yet detailed format.I never felt like they were glossing over anything and I found these sections extremely valuable.If you've studied Western philosophy or the history of the Dark Ages, than this may not be new to you, but I found it intriguing.The authors then give a short history of the Dominican and the Franciscan orders of the Church, and how opposed to each other they were.They give the story of Francis of Assissi and how the Franciscans were formed, as well as the Dominicans and their noted scholar, Thomas Aquinas, and they discuss the university system as it existed in Europe at the time.Then they begin to delve deeply into Roger Bacon's biography.That's when the focus of the book begins to shift.However, it doesn't move that far at first.They use the differences between Thomas' thought and Bacon's to highlight the differences between those using Aristotle's logic and those using Church dogma, and it's a very enlightening section of the book.

Finally, we get to the manuscript itself, and where it may have gone (as it disappears from history periodically).Unfortunately, this is where the book really begins to drag.We are given fairly detailed passages on cryptology as many twentieth-century cryptologists try to decode the manuscript.I found I was much more interested in the discussions on Western thought than I was in the decoding of the manuscript, especially after remembering that nobody has ever solved the riddle.Some of these stories are interesting, but I found my interest flagging as I read about what happened to these various people.

Which brings me to the ultimate problem with this book and how it was marketed (and even titled).The Friar and the Cipher is a wonderful book on Western philosophy.However, there's nothing really new in the book when it comes to the manuscript.It doesn't take sides in the controversy, only saying that it seems likely that Bacon did write it.They raise questions, but they don't really provide anything new to anybody who has any knowledge of the subject.The book seems to be a way to gather a bunch of different sources into one volume, sort of a "this is where we're at" kind of thing.

It also is almost a love letter to Roger Bacon.They ferociously defend him against any of his critics who claim he wasn't what his fans make him out to be.He has come in for a lot of criticism over the years, and the Goldstones bring it all up and knock it down.Who's right and who's wrong is not for me to judge, as this is my first exposure to Bacon.However, one positive aspect of this defense is that they do acknowledge that the criticism *could* be right, but that it's misplaced.Bacon may not have been the leading light his fans make him out to be, but it was his methods that made him special, regardless of the ideas themselves.And perhaps that could be a defense of the book as well.The Friar and the Cipher may not be as special as it could be regarding the Voynich manuscript, but the method of getting there is extremely well done.

David Roy ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Connecting The Dots
So little is known about the real life of Friar Bacon that the author is obliged to make up many details of his life, based on speculation and inference.The stories feel like they could be credible, but one is reminded that the subtitle of this book is "A Life of Roger Bacon" not "THE Life of Roger Bacon."

In order to fill out a scanty bushel of facts the author delves into Medieval politics, alchemy, early church struggles et cetera, giving the reader a fairly good grounding in the times of Roger Bacon.Nevertheless, I think it would have been very possible to delve deeper into Bacon's five known works to dissect where he anticipated Renaissance science, where he hewed to Bible-based orthodoxy, and where he went off on flights of fancy.The analysis of his works -- which ARE known -- is a bit light in the loafers.

Yes and No.
I really wanted to like this book: Mr. Clegg obviously has a deep respect for his subject and is eager to share it with the reader. Unfortunately, a combination of sometimes sloppy writing skills and a dearth of information add up to a mostly mediocre biography. When I say information is scarce, I mean it: very, very little is known about the specifics of Bacon's life; the vast majority of this book is conjecture. We know Bacon went from A to B to A to C, and that's more or less it--Clegg sees fit to fill in the details again and again. This would be okay if it weren't pure guesswork most of the time. On top of this, particularly toward the end, the writing style becomes strained and stretched out like a college term-paper. It's as if the author is grabbing at straws to convince you that Bacon was indeed the first scientist. It's a shame that these problems overshadow what is otherwise a very interesting book on a very interesting subject from a very interesting time period. I hope one day we'll see a major biography of this strange, precocious man with the proper research to back it up. Until then, The First Scientist will do, if you keep in mind its flaws.

Although I really do love the book design.

The First Scientist-A Life of Roger Bacon by Brian Clegg
This is an excellent work for historians and science buffs.
It describes a friar who lived in the 13th century. Roger Bacon
predicted horseless carriages and telescopes. He is one of the
first scientists to link science with the experimental method.
Early in life, he studied astronomy, grammar, mathematics,
music, logic and rhetoric. He presented a fairly detailed
earth map. The work describes his incarceration for teachings
contrary to the orthodoxy of the day. This work would make
a perfect class project for students in grammar or high school.

Amazing introduction to an amazing man
The great thing about this book is it's not over-academic like practically everything else I've seen about Bacon, but rather gives a real insight into the man and his times. If you are at all interested in science, where it comes from and the people who made it happen this book should be on your have-to-buy list!

A good introduction
I found Brian Clegg's biography of Roger Bacon to be a good introduction for anyone wishing to understand the great man's life and work, and the times in which he lived. However, this book seemed to me to be too focused on Bacon as a precursor of the Scientific Revolution, and at times I would question the depth (although not necessarilly the breadth) of Clegg's understanding of ancient and medieval science. Whilst the author has obviously done a lot of research, and his admiration for his subject shines through at every page, this is not a truly scholarly life of Bacon that would be of great use to academics. But, having said this, I would still recommend this book for anyone coming at Bacon for the first time. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by John Henry Bridges.This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1900 edition by Williams and Norgate, London. ... Read more

Book Description
Contents: Forerunner of Modern Science; Voynich Cipher Manuscript of Roger Bacon, a sketch of its history; Voynich Cipher Manuscript of Roger Bacon, sketch of its contents; Principles of Roger Bacon's Cipher; Following the Clues; Derivation of the Biliteral Alphabets; Script of the Shorthand Cipher; Rules for Deciphering the Texts; Interpretation of the Key; Annular Eclipse of 1290; Great Nebula of Andromeda; Comet of 1723; Cato and Fulvius; Oxford Story; Gunpowder Formula; Vatican Document; Paris Medical Text; Formula for Producing Metallic Copper; Abbreviated Word about the Green Lion; Tables of Values. ... Read more

Book Description
Volume one of a two volume set. (This description is for both volumes.) Contains much of Bacon's principle writings in mathematics, optics, experimental science, and philosophy. Bacon is regarded as the first modern scientist.This is one of his major works with 8 plates and 72 illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume deals with the philosophy and thought of RogerBacon. It is aneffort to bring Roger Bacon studies up to date.Attention is given to a widerange of topics: Bacon's life and works,Bacon's contribution to thetrivium (language studies) and thequadrivium (scientific-mathematicalstudies), his notion of a science,his moral philosophy, Bacon's contributionto medicine, alchemy,astrology, Bacon's positions in physics and metaphysics,an up datedbibliography of Bacon studies and a review of the state of Bacon Manuscripts.The volume situates Roger Bacon in the context of 13thcentury philosophy andthought, as well as demonstrating hisimportance for later thinkers.It is expected that it will be a majornew contribution to Medieval andRenaissance Studies. ... Read more

Book Description
Concerning the Marvelous Power of Art and Nature and the Nullity of Magic together with notes and an account of Bacon's Life and Work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Roger Bacon -A True Renaissance Man!
This letter focuses on Bacon's interest and involvment in the occult and alchemical fields but it is only a small part of this amazing man's life.I bought the book for the occult references but received so much more! ... Read more

Book Description
Conquests by arms are trivial in their permanent effects compared with the conquests of mind over matter, In the world of thought, there are the sources of progress to be found, and it was a significant fact, and momentous in its significance, that men of learning in 1914 found it in their hearts to do homage for the first time to Roger Bacon. For long he suffered calumny and neglect; though unlike so many innovators in scientific speculation, it is true that he escaped torture and death at the hands of his contemporaries. He nevertheless suffered much persecution, as well shall learn in what follows. Contents: molding of Roger Bacon's mind; fruits of Roger Bacon's learning; astrology; alchemy; medicine; magic and the discovery of gunpowder. ... Read more

Book Description
THIS 18 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Bygone Beliefs Being a Series of Excursions in the Byways of Thought, by H. Stanley Redgrove. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766101568.Download Description
THIS 18 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Bygone Beliefs Being a Series of Excursions in the Byways of Thought, by H. Stanley Redgrove. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766101568. ... Read more

Book Description
Contains much of Bacon s principle writings in mathematics, optics, experimental science, and philosophy. Bacon is regarded as the first modern scientist. This is one of his major works with 8 plates and 72 illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Unlikely his solution is correct
The Voynich Manuscript is a mysterious late mediæval text, written in an unknown script in an unknown language or cypher.It reads as if written fluently, not by someone who was painfully calculating each next character, but by someone who understood what he was writing.It looks like a curious herbal or alchemical treatise, full of diagrams of unknown plants, unknown constellations, and elaborate networks of plumbing inhabited by plump, naked, crowned women.The text seems to contain all the redundancies expected in a natural language and then some. It can be traced back as far as the hands of Athanasius Kircher, the Jesuit polymath, who was but the first of many to have tried and failed to read the text.

For a time, this book was the best general overview of the history of the Voynich Manuscript.It still is a good one, though it has been superseded in that regard by Mary d'Imperio's -The Voynich Manuscript: An Elegant Enigma.-

Brumbaugh proposes in this book a partial "solution" that yields texts like ILEXER ILUS YUS PURUS POURLY ILUY YJSUUS PURUS PLUS URICUS.These decipherments have the merit of seeming to read like the repetitious text of the manuscript itself.He interprets this text, though, as "The Elixir is a game, purely, purely a pure game; and European."Even if he has deciphered the script, no doubt you can probably think of other interpretations on your own.

His method of reading seems to involve first turning the script into Arabic numerals, reading those numerals as any of several possible letters in the Latin alphabet.He got this by forcing letters into the script based on his attempts to identify some of the plants in the diagrams, and then attempting to extract a method of reading the characters.His decypherments are occasionally tantalising, but if this is the actual text behind the symbols, there doesn't seem to be much point in further effort.The readings appear to be flawed by the polyvalence of the script he believes he sees. ... Read more