The scientists of the twelfth century were daring, original, inventive, and above all determined to discover purely rational explanations of natural phenomena. Their intense interest in the natural world for its own sake, their habits of precise observation, and the high value they place on man as a rational being portend a new age in the history of scientific thought. This book offers a comprehensive sampling of medieval scientific thought in the context of an historical narrative.

The editors of this volume have collected a large number of texts, most of them previously available only in manuscript, of a wide range of scholastic views on the problem of the eternity of the world. These selections range from William of Durham in the 1220s to John of Jandun in 1315. They illustrate the continuity of medieval discussions of this crucial topic and present the major arguments on all sides of the question. Several of the authors are anonymous, and many of those whose names are known have been little studied. The notes not only identify the fontes but also, through...