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SCIENCE 579
ofthe twelfth century, and he did so, not merely passively, but
with an intellectual independence that matched his vigour as a
traveller. This is evident in two original treatises, De Eodem et
Diverso and Questions Naturaks, both belonging to an early
period in his Arabic studies and written as dialogues
in which
he explains
the purpose of his journeys to a nephew presented
as having been his pupil at Laon. The second treatise is espex
cially lively. The nephew taunts his uncle: 'I am sure you praise
[the Saracens] shamelessly and are too keen to point
out our
ignorance/ Adelard rejoins: 'It is hard to discuss with you, for
I have learned one thing from the Arabs under the'guidance of
reason; you follow another halter, caught by the appearance of
but a halter! . . . Ifreason is not
authority, for what is authority
to be the universal it is judge, given to each to no purpose.
Those who are now called authorities reached that position by
the exercise oftheir reason Wherefore, if you want to hear
anything more from me, give and take reason/ Later he says: *I
call myself a man of Bath, not a Stoic, wherefore I teach my
own opinions,
not the errors ofthe Stoics/
Down to the end of the twelfth century the predominantly
theological interests of scholars had led them generally
to treat
the natural world as a kind ofshadow, and a symbol, ofdivine
power and providence. The context ofAdelard's use ofreason
marks the first explicit assertion in the middle ages that recogni'
tion of divine omnipotence did not preclude the existence of
proximate natural causes, and that these could be known only
by independent, scientific inquiry. Though relying mainly on
a priori reasoning, Adelard had some recourse to observation
and experiment. Discussing the question why plants sprung up
from earth collected and put in a pot, the nephew asks: 'To
what else do you attribute this but to the marvellous effect ofthe
wonderful Divine wilh* Adelard agrees, but asserts that it
also has a natural reason. Nature 'is not confused and without
system, and so far as human knowledge has it
progressed
should
be given a hearing. Only when it fails
utterly should then be
recourse to God/
OfAddard's translations from the Arabic, by fk the most