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After Such Knowledge #1
Doctor Mirabilis
Blish created a trilogy, each volume of which dealt with an aspect of the price of knowledge, & gave it the overall name of After Such Knowledge (from a T.S. Eliot quote). The 1st published, A Case of Conscience (winner of the '59 Hugo Award as well as 2004/1953 Retrospective Hugo for Best Novella), showed a Jesuit priest confronted with an intelligent alien species, apparently unfallen, which he eventually concludes must be a Satanic fabrication. The 2nd, Doctor Mirabilis, is a historical novel about the medieval proto-scientist Roger Bacon. The 3rd, actually two short novels, Black Easter & The Day After Judgment, was written using the assumption that the ritual magic for summoning demons as described in grimoires actually worked. In that book, a powerful industrialist & arms merchant arranges to call up demons in the midst of a modern world crisis, resulting in nuclear war & the destruction of civilization. Black Easter is devoted to that element of the plot; The Day After Judgment is devoted to exploring the consequences of the destruction of the world, with an extraordinary ending in both narrative & theological terms.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
8 people are currently reading
3554 people want to read
About the author
James Blish
454 books327 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
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October 21, 2014
This review is prompted by my second reading of Doctor Mirabilis, which I first read when I was far too young to appreciate it or even understand it properly. Besides, I was expecting it to be science fiction (because it's by James Blish) and was frightfully disappointed to find that it wasn't.
This time, I could read it and appreciate it for what it is: an extremely well-written historical novel that transcends the genre in much the same way as the Thomas Cromwell books of Hilary Mantel. Blish's work is not very like Mantel's, but it has the same intellectual depth and gritty fidelity to the period being described. I re-read it with delight, finding it a far, far better book than I remembered it to be.
Doctor Mirabilis is easily synopsized. It is a novelization of the life of Roger Bacon, the great mediaeval scholar-monk and proto-scientist who was a contemporary of Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, but whose interests and concerns were centuries ahead of theirs. Bacon's life wasn't very eventful: born to a landed family at Ilchester in Somerset, England, he became a student at Oxford. This was during the reign of Henry III, when England was racked by civil strife, and the Bacon family property was seized and Roger's relatives driven into exile. Abruptly impoverished, he became a lecturer at Oxford and later at the University of Paris. He spent some time in Rome and later returned to Oxford. Late in life he was imprisoned for some years, but was released and died a free man. Blish has him locked up for supporting a movement for reform within the Franciscan Order, to which he belonged, but history is not actually very clear on this point.
The story is spiced up with scenes of political manoeuvring involving Henry III, his advisors and his barons, in which Roger is briefly caught up through his protectors and sponsors, Adam Marsh, Robert Grosseteste and Simon de Montfort. There is also a sideshow love story between Marsh and de Montfort's wife, the king's sister Eleanor. These sections are interesting in their own right but bear only peripheral relevance to the story of Roger Bacon.
It doesn't sound like much of a story, but Blish makes it fascinating. He presents a resounding case for Bacon as a pioneer of science, and pens a portrait of a difficult, combative, socially maladept but brilliant man who was sometimes his own worst enemy.
A word needs to be said about style. He does not commit the solecism of gratuitous archaization (though he does indulge in some Middle English syntax at appropriate moments), but Blish's style in this novel is fetchingly ornate. There are moments when it achieves real beauty, as for example in this passage:
However, be warned: there's a lot of Latin in the book, even one or two whole paragraphs of the stuff.
This time, I could read it and appreciate it for what it is: an extremely well-written historical novel that transcends the genre in much the same way as the Thomas Cromwell books of Hilary Mantel. Blish's work is not very like Mantel's, but it has the same intellectual depth and gritty fidelity to the period being described. I re-read it with delight, finding it a far, far better book than I remembered it to be.
Doctor Mirabilis is easily synopsized. It is a novelization of the life of Roger Bacon, the great mediaeval scholar-monk and proto-scientist who was a contemporary of Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, but whose interests and concerns were centuries ahead of theirs. Bacon's life wasn't very eventful: born to a landed family at Ilchester in Somerset, England, he became a student at Oxford. This was during the reign of Henry III, when England was racked by civil strife, and the Bacon family property was seized and Roger's relatives driven into exile. Abruptly impoverished, he became a lecturer at Oxford and later at the University of Paris. He spent some time in Rome and later returned to Oxford. Late in life he was imprisoned for some years, but was released and died a free man. Blish has him locked up for supporting a movement for reform within the Franciscan Order, to which he belonged, but history is not actually very clear on this point.
The story is spiced up with scenes of political manoeuvring involving Henry III, his advisors and his barons, in which Roger is briefly caught up through his protectors and sponsors, Adam Marsh, Robert Grosseteste and Simon de Montfort. There is also a sideshow love story between Marsh and de Montfort's wife, the king's sister Eleanor. These sections are interesting in their own right but bear only peripheral relevance to the story of Roger Bacon.
It doesn't sound like much of a story, but Blish makes it fascinating. He presents a resounding case for Bacon as a pioneer of science, and pens a portrait of a difficult, combative, socially maladept but brilliant man who was sometimes his own worst enemy.
A word needs to be said about style. He does not commit the solecism of gratuitous archaization (though he does indulge in some Middle English syntax at appropriate moments), but Blish's style in this novel is fetchingly ornate. There are moments when it achieves real beauty, as for example in this passage:
Elsewhere the street was in its more usual state of evening irreverence. Overhead in one of the hostels, a poor thing which could have held no more than ten fellows and a master as poor as they, the dice were already rattling, for there were three baskets of waffles or rissoles hanging out the window, and some lucky socium had also thrown himself a sausage: there it dangled, with two cats hopelessly a-siege of it in the street, their spines stretched like mandolins, their fretted noses bumping speculatively against the empty burdened air. Roger's belly twinged in sympathy, and he bought from the next pâtisser he saw in the street an eel pie which filled all the rest of his walk with a marvellous vapour of garlic and pepper...
However, be warned: there's a lot of Latin in the book, even one or two whole paragraphs of the stuff.
September 13, 2010
This is a historical novel about Roger Bacon, who figured out the rainbow and reinvented gunpowder, more or less invented the modern idea of "science" while writing on commission from the Pope, was probably driven half insane by 13 years of imprisonment and died in obscurity. James Blish was a science-fiction writer of great verbal skill and diverse interests, who in my opinion found it hard to keep a book or a character together (about half of each book of his Cities in Flight series is one of my favorite SF novels), but here, working from scraps of biography and a vivid dream-recreation of medieval life, he was mostly on a roll. I wish this book (and Blish) were not so overlooked now.
The character of Bacon, who's driven by an obsessive curiosity and a hallucinatory voice of ambition, is very vivid; the others somewhat less so as the story gets a little bogged down in 13th-century politics (uncharacteristically for an SF writer, Blish made a stern effort to avoid any anachronistic exposition, meaning that he assumes we know as much as Roger does about how his world works: a choice that can contribute to the immediacy of the setting, as it does in Riddley Walker , but in this case Blish didn't find equivalent devices to keep us interested in the machinations of state -- or maybe the problem is that Bacon isn't naive enough to serve as our guide). The language is an interesting mix of archaisms and elegant modern prose, which mostly works, though it helps if you've had a better education than I did; the dialogue is usually rendered in modern English when the characters are speaking Latin, which is most of the time, and in an artificial but fairly graceful pseudo-Elizabethan when they're speaking their vernaculars.
Blish also paints a vivid picture (again a little less clear for someone like me who lacks a grounding in the classics in question) of the dogmatic yet flexibly flaky medieval attitude toward science and history. The fluidity of an oral tradition, and the role of misreading as a tool of discovery, are themes reflected in Russell Hoban's past and future worlds as well. (The parallels with Riddley Walker, including the rediscovery of gunpowder in a dream about a "still unbroken" man standing between two shores "at the heart of an explosion," are especially interesting because in most ways the two books couldn't be more different.) I think Blish may be indebted to C.S. Lewis's great non-fiction book The Discarded Image for much of this; Blish's wild apocalyptic fantasy The Devil's Day , which recasts the cosmology of Dante and medieval notions of black magic in a thriller context, is dedicated to Lewis.
The character of Bacon, who's driven by an obsessive curiosity and a hallucinatory voice of ambition, is very vivid; the others somewhat less so as the story gets a little bogged down in 13th-century politics (uncharacteristically for an SF writer, Blish made a stern effort to avoid any anachronistic exposition, meaning that he assumes we know as much as Roger does about how his world works: a choice that can contribute to the immediacy of the setting, as it does in Riddley Walker , but in this case Blish didn't find equivalent devices to keep us interested in the machinations of state -- or maybe the problem is that Bacon isn't naive enough to serve as our guide). The language is an interesting mix of archaisms and elegant modern prose, which mostly works, though it helps if you've had a better education than I did; the dialogue is usually rendered in modern English when the characters are speaking Latin, which is most of the time, and in an artificial but fairly graceful pseudo-Elizabethan when they're speaking their vernaculars.
Blish also paints a vivid picture (again a little less clear for someone like me who lacks a grounding in the classics in question) of the dogmatic yet flexibly flaky medieval attitude toward science and history. The fluidity of an oral tradition, and the role of misreading as a tool of discovery, are themes reflected in Russell Hoban's past and future worlds as well. (The parallels with Riddley Walker, including the rediscovery of gunpowder in a dream about a "still unbroken" man standing between two shores "at the heart of an explosion," are especially interesting because in most ways the two books couldn't be more different.) I think Blish may be indebted to C.S. Lewis's great non-fiction book The Discarded Image for much of this; Blish's wild apocalyptic fantasy The Devil's Day , which recasts the cosmology of Dante and medieval notions of black magic in a thriller context, is dedicated to Lewis.
August 18, 2019
Искам да започна с това, че всички диалози, които се водят в Англия са на староанглийски, от който Шекспир и Чосър ще започнат да си скубят брадочите. Това, за мен поне, е недопустимо в художествено произведение и си е чиста авторска чикия. За щастие 2/3 от действието се развива във Франция и Италия, а една друга част от дфиалозите е на латински, та са преведени на нормален език. Бутам звезда заради това и нещата си идват на мястото.
Доктор Мирабилис или Роджър Бейкън е образ отдавна влязъл в европейската митология. Блиш се заема с нелеката задача да разплете историята от легендата, като стъпва на съмнително достоверни писания от 13 век. Според мен се е справил страхотно, въпреки че, както отбелязах горе, малко е прекалил в стремежа си към достоверност.
Бейкън е учен отдаден на знанието както никой друг. Във времена на инквизиция, политически интриги, бедност и мизерия, не оставя абсолютно нищо да погаси жаждата му за знания.
Да нахвърлям набързо перипетите му:
Въпреки едно доста прилично наследство, Роджър цял живот се занимава само с наука, която само и единствено изисква, никога не е имал патрони, които да го спонсорират. Подходът му към писанията на „авторитетите“ му докарва само омраза, врагове и отхвърляне, като е обявен за схизматик от собствения си (франсисканския) орден, заточван във Франция и Италия, както и прекарал 13 години в затвор пред който пазарджишкият е като лятна ваканция на Карибите. Отритнат е от Краля си, френският крал и Папата. Заклеймяване като еретик и магьосник. Трудовете му са умишлено губени, изгаряни, забранявани за четене. Нищо от това не го спира да твори до последния си дъх.
Да нахвърлям набързо успехите му:
Първият човек, който е мислил за комбинативно изучаване на всички науки или холистика (Абе кога този термин го изнинджиха тъпите хомеопати и му придадоха диаметрално противоположни значение?). Поставил основите на модерната физика преди Нютон. Поставил основите на модерната астрономия преди Галилей и то не на геоцентричната система. Първото споменаване на формулата за черен барут в Европа. Математически подход за строежа на вселената, който Айнщайн ще наложи седем века по-късно. И много други.
Поради безкрайното му повтаряне на стари опитни постановки (защото веруйото му е да не се доверяваш на непроверени авторитети), възбраната от църквата върху текстовете му и чисто пропагандното му обявяване за магьосник и шарлатанин, трудовете на Бейкън са смятани в продължение на векове за енциклопедични и никой не се е ровил в тях достатъчно да види колко е гениален. Концепцията за разглеждане на натрупаното знание като елементи на по-широкообхватни тези, от които могат да се изведат нови постулати, поне според мен, е същността на инженерната професия.
Освен живота на Бейкън, Блиш ни показва и доста от политическата действителност в Европа в средата на 13 век, като ключовите фигури са исторически достоверни, а интригите пряко свързани с действието в книгата.
Цялата идея, както и на поредицата, макар останалите произведения да са чиста фантастика, е да покаже цената на знанието и саможертвата, която един човек може да направи за него, дори и да не получи признание. На мен ми влезе много вдъхновяващо, без да се боря на това поприще.
И искам да завърша с едни цитат от Бейкън в писмото му до папата:
„...провалът на всеки един учен в историята да предвиди как знанието (независимо какво знание) може да бъде достоверно.
Още от дните на Откровението, фактически, все същите четири скверни грешки са допускани отново и отново: отстъпване пред неправилни и недостоверни авторитети; отстъпване пред това което е прието да се вярва; отстъпване пред предразсъдъците на тълпата; и най-лошото от всички, прикриване на невежество зад фалшивата показност на непритежавано знание, от нищо друго освен гордост.“
Доктор Мирабилис или Роджър Бейкън е образ отдавна влязъл в европейската митология. Блиш се заема с нелеката задача да разплете историята от легендата, като стъпва на съмнително достоверни писания от 13 век. Според мен се е справил страхотно, въпреки че, както отбелязах горе, малко е прекалил в стремежа си към достоверност.
Бейкън е учен отдаден на знанието както никой друг. Във времена на инквизиция, политически интриги, бедност и мизерия, не оставя абсолютно нищо да погаси жаждата му за знания.
Да нахвърлям набързо перипетите му:
Въпреки едно доста прилично наследство, Роджър цял живот се занимава само с наука, която само и единствено изисква, никога не е имал патрони, които да го спонсорират. Подходът му към писанията на „авторитетите“ му докарва само омраза, врагове и отхвърляне, като е обявен за схизматик от собствения си (франсисканския) орден, заточван във Франция и Италия, както и прекарал 13 години в затвор пред който пазарджишкият е като лятна ваканция на Карибите. Отритнат е от Краля си, френският крал и Папата. Заклеймяване като еретик и магьосник. Трудовете му са умишлено губени, изгаряни, забранявани за четене. Нищо от това не го спира да твори до последния си дъх.
Да нахвърлям набързо успехите му:
Първият човек, който е мислил за комбинативно изучаване на всички науки или холистика (Абе кога този термин го изнинджиха тъпите хомеопати и му придадоха диаметрално противоположни значение?). Поставил основите на модерната физика преди Нютон. Поставил основите на модерната астрономия преди Галилей и то не на геоцентричната система. Първото споменаване на формулата за черен барут в Европа. Математически подход за строежа на вселената, който Айнщайн ще наложи седем века по-късно. И много други.
Поради безкрайното му повтаряне на стари опитни постановки (защото веруйото му е да не се доверяваш на непроверени авторитети), възбраната от църквата върху текстовете му и чисто пропагандното му обявяване за магьосник и шарлатанин, трудовете на Бейкън са смятани в продължение на векове за енциклопедични и никой не се е ровил в тях достатъчно да види колко е гениален. Концепцията за разглеждане на натрупаното знание като елементи на по-широкообхватни тези, от които могат да се изведат нови постулати, поне според мен, е същността на инженерната професия.
Освен живота на Бейкън, Блиш ни показва и доста от политическата действителност в Европа в средата на 13 век, като ключовите фигури са исторически достоверни, а интригите пряко свързани с действието в книгата.
Цялата идея, както и на поредицата, макар останалите произведения да са чиста фантастика, е да покаже цената на знанието и саможертвата, която един човек може да направи за него, дори и да не получи признание. На мен ми влезе много вдъхновяващо, без да се боря на това поприще.
И искам да завърша с едни цитат от Бейкън в писмото му до папата:
„...провалът на всеки един учен в историята да предвиди как знанието (независимо какво знание) може да бъде достоверно.
Още от дните на Откровението, фактически, все същите четири скверни грешки са допускани отново и отново: отстъпване пред неправилни и недостоверни авторитети; отстъпване пред това което е прието да се вярва; отстъпване пред предразсъдъците на тълпата; и най-лошото от всички, прикриване на невежество зад фалшивата показност на непритежавано знание, от нищо друго освен гордост.“
September 23, 2017
Storyline: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
Resonance: 1/5
What an odd book. No so much so because of its contents as much as because of its identity. What section of the bookstore did they sell this in when it was originally published? Where does it get shelved at the public library? Without having read it, one could be forgiven for thinking this belongs in fantasy. The cover looks like it might be some sort of the fantastical pseudo-religious quest. It is listed as a member of the "After Such Knowledge" series which features the Nebula nominated Black Easter - itself (though I haven't personally read it) a religious fantasy. But there's nothing other worldly or distinctly metaphysical about this - in fact, pains are taken to keep this grounded in reality and the recognizable world.
Perhaps it science fiction, then, you might ponder. James Blish was a known science fiction writer, recognized specifically for his Star Trek contributions. The Hugo Award winning "After Such Knowledge" series' first, A Case of Conscience" (which I have read) had spaceships and aliens, clearly speculating about science in the future. Doctor Mirabilis would later be published in the SF Gateway collection which had as its mission the creation of "a library of the greatest SF [science fiction] ever written, chosen with the help of today's leading SF writers and editors. These books show that genuinely innovative SF is as exciting today as when it was first written." The planet-in-the-distance cover, too, hints at space exploration. But alas it is not so. This work takes place on our Earth, in historical times, with no alternative history or science fiction gadgetry or speculation. Did the SF Gateway editors read the book before they inducted it into their collection? There's no science fiction here.
Surely it must be a history, then. Featuring the person of 1200s Roger Bacon and the religious and political events of his time, it is the definitive biography of this early natural philosopher. The history label doesn't appear to fit, however, as one read's Blish's foreword to the book. Noting that except "for an anonymous writer who saw Bacon at a gathering like the one described in Chapter VII, not a single soul in his own lifetime ever managed to mention him by name in a writing which has survived, not even people he obviously knew intimately; and we have the text of only one letter to him..." Blish would identify in the book's postscript those characters whom he concocted entirely. He would also admit to the many liberties he took when filling in the story of Bacon's life, opting to include tales that were almost certainly pure legend, but which would be very fitting if they were true. This "biography" does not appear to ever have been printed by a scholarly publisher, and Blish's acknowledgements indicate he was very much still relying on the science fiction community's help and resources.
That leaves us with historical fiction, obviously. Clearly it is a fictionalized biography. Only Blish remarks in his foreword that he "must not pretend the book he writes...is a fictionalized biography." Blish would go on to further disabuse us of the notion that this is history: "What follows is a fiction." He would, admittedly, try to remain true to the events of the 13th century and strive to capture some of the original Middle English syntax. Still, this left it in a very awkward place between history and fiction.
Perhaps, ultimately, this is a philosophy. A Case of Conscience, the series, first, had a contemplative tone to it, though it never laid out a clear thesis or argument. Philosophers like to meander, though, at times writing on a point or to contribute to an argument that while clear to them is hidden from all but the most well-informed. I think that this is perhaps the closest to the truth. The "After Such Knowledge" series, after all, seems to have been grouped as a series after-the-fact. Reviews and descriptions that I find note a recurrent theme on the price of knowledge. Surely that element is here. It did not, however, read like a book that was out to develop so abstract a point. Other points, perhaps. There was an anti-clerical undertone that held serious criticism of the 13th century Church. By and large, however, Doctor Mirabilis does not read like an inquiry or a deep philosophical inquiry.
The biographical element to this so overwhelmed everything else, and with the added foreward, this seems primarily to have been a pet project of Blish's to establish that Roger Bacon of the 13th century and not the more celebrated Francis Bacon of the 17th century was the true first modern scientist. A lot of attention is given to Roger Bacon's ideas and how they differed from the mainstream at the time. Of the twenty-two volumes Bacon left to posterity, Blish returns again and again to a small selection that concern the development of a science. That seems a relevant and interesting historical thesis, worthy of a history book. The problem for Blish, as discussed above, is that he did not make this an academic argument in the form of a history. He wrote a biography intermixed with admitted fabrications, wrongly-attributed legends, and wide-ranging liberties. What an odd way to go about making his case for the primacy of Roger Bacon as the worlds first modern scientist.
On the content itself, my impressions varied. At times the Middle English was almost impossible to follow, but it did give the conversations a definite texture. The scores of Latin passages were completely indecipherable, though Blish cued the reader onto their contents in the preceding or following narrative. The historical events often seemed superfluous and unnecessary, but they slowly built up into a picture that had relevance for the central character. The biography was choppy, obviously reliant on fragments and missing decades of interim events, but Blish built it into a detailed picture of the Bacon he wanted us to know.
I would have to conclude that this was a waste of time. In part, that is because I was looking for and expecting a science fiction novel. I would have settled in and enjoyed the authoritative history of Roger Bacon, however, had that been what was presented. The amalgam here, ultimately, did not satisfy my fantastical or my non-fiction interests - not enough fiction to be speculative or fun and not enough non-fiction to be definite or enlightening. Blish's story of the life of Doctor Mirabilis is not poorly told, it was simply a tale I never needed to hear.
Characters: 3/5
Writing Style: 3/5
Resonance: 1/5
What an odd book. No so much so because of its contents as much as because of its identity. What section of the bookstore did they sell this in when it was originally published? Where does it get shelved at the public library? Without having read it, one could be forgiven for thinking this belongs in fantasy. The cover looks like it might be some sort of the fantastical pseudo-religious quest. It is listed as a member of the "After Such Knowledge" series which features the Nebula nominated Black Easter - itself (though I haven't personally read it) a religious fantasy. But there's nothing other worldly or distinctly metaphysical about this - in fact, pains are taken to keep this grounded in reality and the recognizable world.
Perhaps it science fiction, then, you might ponder. James Blish was a known science fiction writer, recognized specifically for his Star Trek contributions. The Hugo Award winning "After Such Knowledge" series' first, A Case of Conscience" (which I have read) had spaceships and aliens, clearly speculating about science in the future. Doctor Mirabilis would later be published in the SF Gateway collection which had as its mission the creation of "a library of the greatest SF [science fiction] ever written, chosen with the help of today's leading SF writers and editors. These books show that genuinely innovative SF is as exciting today as when it was first written." The planet-in-the-distance cover, too, hints at space exploration. But alas it is not so. This work takes place on our Earth, in historical times, with no alternative history or science fiction gadgetry or speculation. Did the SF Gateway editors read the book before they inducted it into their collection? There's no science fiction here.
Surely it must be a history, then. Featuring the person of 1200s Roger Bacon and the religious and political events of his time, it is the definitive biography of this early natural philosopher. The history label doesn't appear to fit, however, as one read's Blish's foreword to the book. Noting that except "for an anonymous writer who saw Bacon at a gathering like the one described in Chapter VII, not a single soul in his own lifetime ever managed to mention him by name in a writing which has survived, not even people he obviously knew intimately; and we have the text of only one letter to him..." Blish would identify in the book's postscript those characters whom he concocted entirely. He would also admit to the many liberties he took when filling in the story of Bacon's life, opting to include tales that were almost certainly pure legend, but which would be very fitting if they were true. This "biography" does not appear to ever have been printed by a scholarly publisher, and Blish's acknowledgements indicate he was very much still relying on the science fiction community's help and resources.
That leaves us with historical fiction, obviously. Clearly it is a fictionalized biography. Only Blish remarks in his foreword that he "must not pretend the book he writes...is a fictionalized biography." Blish would go on to further disabuse us of the notion that this is history: "What follows is a fiction." He would, admittedly, try to remain true to the events of the 13th century and strive to capture some of the original Middle English syntax. Still, this left it in a very awkward place between history and fiction.
Perhaps, ultimately, this is a philosophy. A Case of Conscience, the series, first, had a contemplative tone to it, though it never laid out a clear thesis or argument. Philosophers like to meander, though, at times writing on a point or to contribute to an argument that while clear to them is hidden from all but the most well-informed. I think that this is perhaps the closest to the truth. The "After Such Knowledge" series, after all, seems to have been grouped as a series after-the-fact. Reviews and descriptions that I find note a recurrent theme on the price of knowledge. Surely that element is here. It did not, however, read like a book that was out to develop so abstract a point. Other points, perhaps. There was an anti-clerical undertone that held serious criticism of the 13th century Church. By and large, however, Doctor Mirabilis does not read like an inquiry or a deep philosophical inquiry.
The biographical element to this so overwhelmed everything else, and with the added foreward, this seems primarily to have been a pet project of Blish's to establish that Roger Bacon of the 13th century and not the more celebrated Francis Bacon of the 17th century was the true first modern scientist. A lot of attention is given to Roger Bacon's ideas and how they differed from the mainstream at the time. Of the twenty-two volumes Bacon left to posterity, Blish returns again and again to a small selection that concern the development of a science. That seems a relevant and interesting historical thesis, worthy of a history book. The problem for Blish, as discussed above, is that he did not make this an academic argument in the form of a history. He wrote a biography intermixed with admitted fabrications, wrongly-attributed legends, and wide-ranging liberties. What an odd way to go about making his case for the primacy of Roger Bacon as the worlds first modern scientist.
On the content itself, my impressions varied. At times the Middle English was almost impossible to follow, but it did give the conversations a definite texture. The scores of Latin passages were completely indecipherable, though Blish cued the reader onto their contents in the preceding or following narrative. The historical events often seemed superfluous and unnecessary, but they slowly built up into a picture that had relevance for the central character. The biography was choppy, obviously reliant on fragments and missing decades of interim events, but Blish built it into a detailed picture of the Bacon he wanted us to know.
I would have to conclude that this was a waste of time. In part, that is because I was looking for and expecting a science fiction novel. I would have settled in and enjoyed the authoritative history of Roger Bacon, however, had that been what was presented. The amalgam here, ultimately, did not satisfy my fantastical or my non-fiction interests - not enough fiction to be speculative or fun and not enough non-fiction to be definite or enlightening. Blish's story of the life of Doctor Mirabilis is not poorly told, it was simply a tale I never needed to hear.
December 4, 2015
A very odd, yet remarkable book. Half theological/philosophical treatise. Half medieval history. It rambles and meanders and never quite wraps itself up, simply fading away at the end. But something about it grabbed me.
Not even remotely for everyone, but possibly worth a try.
Not even remotely for everyone, but possibly worth a try.
May 29, 2019
I would be surprised if I ever encounter another person in my life who has read this book, unless I gave it to them. First thing, it is written in a dense modern-take on Medieval English. Second, there's a lot of Latin, which is fine if you had a 1950s English education, not so great if you were educated later or in the US where Latin was not taught. I know a small amount of Latin having studied plant names and middling French, but not enough- there were sections I think I did not fully understand. And third, it involves a rather obscure figure from history embroiled by much political (religious and sovereign) machinations.
Overall, it fulfilled my curiosity about the 12C friar, Roger Bacon. He was a cantankerous individual with lofty goals about getting Aristotle out into the world, and that he aspired to be a scientist ( at least in this book he did).
Overall, it fulfilled my curiosity about the 12C friar, Roger Bacon. He was a cantankerous individual with lofty goals about getting Aristotle out into the world, and that he aspired to be a scientist ( at least in this book he did).
February 22, 2010
This is clearly Blish's masterpiece, and it's a shame that it will probably remain out of print and largely unread because it is not science fiction (at least, not in the usual sense). The historical detail and the summing up of Roger Bacon's thoughts on science, religion, and other matters are quite well-wrought and fascinating. This is better than any of Blish's science fiction I have read (by far); maybe he should have produced more general fiction or historical novels.
March 27, 2013
I only knew of James Blish as a sci-fi author, but this book reveals him to be a scholar and man of letters, of a type no longer common. His novel based on the life of Francis Bacon was a rich delight to read. The Middle English-inspired vernacular takes some getting used to, but beyond that the story turns out to be moving and beautifully told.
October 27, 2025
Doctor Mirabilis is a book that is easier to admire than to like or enjoy. It's not science-fiction, it's not history, it's not exactly a character study. Frankly I am unsure who this book is intended for. Not for me, that's one thing I can say with some certainty.
A brief story about how I came to read this. Long ago, my sister gifted me a stack of used sci-fi books for Christmas, chosen based on how crazy the covers were. One of these books was A Case of Conscience by James Blish, which I have read and reviewed on this site. It is certainly a science-fiction book, with different planets and spaceships and aliens, though it is an unusually philosophical and religious book as well. Goodreads indicated to me that A Case of Conscience was part of the "After Such Knowledge" series, and god help me but I am compelled to complete whole series when I start them, and felt duty bound to go and check this one out. It's not an easy book to find and I had to pay $40 for a paperback in not great condition. It is part of a series in only the most generous possible definition. The two books have nothing to do with each other except some vague thematic similarities.
This is a book about the life of Roger Bacon. He is a person of antiquity who in reality we know very little about. I must also admit that I did not know who Roger Bacon was, and was definitely mixing him up with Francis Bacon for the majority of the book. Most of the contents of Doctor Mirabilis are fictionalized accounts of what may have happened during Roger's life; the language is inflected with old English syntax and frequently hard to read; we take large jumps through time and to new locations throughout the text.
For all that, the book is not nearly as impossible to comprehend as I was afraid at the outset. Blish is a talented writer and obviously well-versed in religious history. As I said at the top, the novel is clearly a labor of love but I'm not sure there is a writer on earth was could really make this work for a lay-reader such as myself. I was just constantly bogged down in the story, unsure of the greater meaning of events, and wishing that it would just hurry up and end.
A brief story about how I came to read this. Long ago, my sister gifted me a stack of used sci-fi books for Christmas, chosen based on how crazy the covers were. One of these books was A Case of Conscience by James Blish, which I have read and reviewed on this site. It is certainly a science-fiction book, with different planets and spaceships and aliens, though it is an unusually philosophical and religious book as well. Goodreads indicated to me that A Case of Conscience was part of the "After Such Knowledge" series, and god help me but I am compelled to complete whole series when I start them, and felt duty bound to go and check this one out. It's not an easy book to find and I had to pay $40 for a paperback in not great condition. It is part of a series in only the most generous possible definition. The two books have nothing to do with each other except some vague thematic similarities.
This is a book about the life of Roger Bacon. He is a person of antiquity who in reality we know very little about. I must also admit that I did not know who Roger Bacon was, and was definitely mixing him up with Francis Bacon for the majority of the book. Most of the contents of Doctor Mirabilis are fictionalized accounts of what may have happened during Roger's life; the language is inflected with old English syntax and frequently hard to read; we take large jumps through time and to new locations throughout the text.
For all that, the book is not nearly as impossible to comprehend as I was afraid at the outset. Blish is a talented writer and obviously well-versed in religious history. As I said at the top, the novel is clearly a labor of love but I'm not sure there is a writer on earth was could really make this work for a lay-reader such as myself. I was just constantly bogged down in the story, unsure of the greater meaning of events, and wishing that it would just hurry up and end.
August 1, 2022
A biographical fiction about, essentially, the birth of natural science and the seeds of its struggle with religion sounded grand, but the insistence on imitation-Old-English dialogue and the amount of time spent on impenetrable royal court intrigue made this a bit of a drag.
Read
December 11, 2012A historical novel based around the scant biographical facts known regarding Roger Bacon - scholar, heretic, alchemist and contender (with his later namesake Francis) for invention of the scientific method. Bits of it are left in Latin, for reasons Blish explains but which don't make it any easier to follow with a rusty GCSE; the syntax and vocabulary elsewhere is derived from Middle English, even if the spelling has been modernised. It's not an easy read, is what I'm getting at. But if you enjoyed the arch humour and the informativeness of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, and fancy something shorter - yet more abstruse - in a similar vein, then it is rather fun. I especially enjoyed the authentically oblique sex scene.
May 14, 2022
4 stars, solid read!
I have been reading more historical fiction (specifically in the 1100-1300 range) and this fell right in line.
The language can by a bit archaic & there are copies of documents not translated from Latin which I couldn't read but this is definitely not a glamorized version of the middle ages as Roger Bacon tries to rationale science & knowledge from antiquity with the rise of the church and monasteries.
Some real memorable scenes such as the debate with Albert Magnus, the time spent in Paris, the small circles of friends (Pope Clement) & the thirteen years spent in prison.
Dense read but recommended.
I have been reading more historical fiction (specifically in the 1100-1300 range) and this fell right in line.
The language can by a bit archaic & there are copies of documents not translated from Latin which I couldn't read but this is definitely not a glamorized version of the middle ages as Roger Bacon tries to rationale science & knowledge from antiquity with the rise of the church and monasteries.
Some real memorable scenes such as the debate with Albert Magnus, the time spent in Paris, the small circles of friends (Pope Clement) & the thirteen years spent in prison.
Dense read but recommended.
March 31, 2023
Chapter 7 of David Ketterer's Imprisoned in a Tesseract : The Life and Work of James Blish refers to the "few readers" of Doctor Mirabilis, Blish's imagined depiction of the life and times of the thirteenth-century philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon. Although Blish was an established writer, American publishers passed on this strange departure from science fiction, and the manuscript eventually made its way to London and was taken up by Faber & Faber. Today, any royalties that continue to accrue to Blish's estate from the work come from a cheap Kindle edition, although second-hand paperbacks are easy to come by.
Although the book is difficult – in places opaque and elliptical, and somewhat ponderous – this obscurity is undeserved. The disruptive potential of Aristotle in medieval Christianity (both his actual works and the pseudo-Aristotelian Secret of Secrets) foreshadows Umberto Eco; the links between politics, religion, change and literary production recall the Luther Blissett collective's Q; and the book's mystical depiction of transformation and breakthrough through connection with an inner self puts one in mind of the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. It ought to have been a cult success at least.
Blish cautions that his book is not a novelised biography: history has left us few details about Bacon's life, and even some of these are contested. This includes Bacon's long imprisonment in old age, which here comprises some of the most vivid parts of the story. Blish fills in gaps with imagination, creating a narrative that takes in King Henry III of England, his sister Eleanor of Pembroke and brother-in-law Simon De Montfort, as well as Albertus Magnus and Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt, among others. A note in a Bacon manuscript that may or may not have been added Bacon himself suggests that Bacon held Peter the Peregrine in high regard; in this telling, however, they are colleagues in a secret group in Paris that meets to perform scientific experiments. Some of Blish's embellishments are traditional: in the sixteenth century the playwright Robert Greene produced Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, which links Bacon with the friar-alchemist Thomas Bungay; Blish knows that this is a legend, but he writes in his postscript that "since virtually nothing is known about him except that he existed, I felt free to accept it."
Bacon is known as the first European to have discovered how to make gunpowder; in this story, the formula is revealed to him a dramatic vision, albeit in the form of a strange epigram which he has to ponder and decode. This is not a revelation from God, but rather a message from his inner self, depicted as a head "burning as were of brass in a furnace" – as Ketterner notes, a nod to the legend of the talking brass head that has been attached both to Albertus and to Bacon.
However, despite Blish giving us a window into Bacon's mind and the promptings of his inner voice, character motivation are sometimes difficult to discern. Why is Bacon such an enthusiast for the mystical and millenarian teachings of Joachim of Fiore – so much so that he is willing to be imprisoned than abjure them? On one level, he was simply being true to his mystical vision; but is it also symptomatic of how a scientist in a pre-scientific age will be led up dead ends, like Isaac Newton's Biblical calculations four hundred years later? Ketterer explains that Blish accepted a Spenglerian schema of "epochs", and this would seem to be echoed by Joachim's prediction of an Age of the Holy Spirit beginning in 1260.
One difficulty with the book is the use of deliberately archaic language to depict dialogue in Middle English, in contrast to conversations and thoughts in Latin and French (there are also some uncompromising quotes in Latin, which Blish assures us are explained by the surrounding context). More than this, though, the dense prose in places demands very careful attention to work out what exactly is going on, and the historical context is not always clear (even in the UK, the long reign of Henry III is something of an amnesiac lacuna between Robin Hood and Braveheart). There are also some strange digressions, particularly a subplot about Eleanor and her confessor Adam Marsh.
Although the book is difficult – in places opaque and elliptical, and somewhat ponderous – this obscurity is undeserved. The disruptive potential of Aristotle in medieval Christianity (both his actual works and the pseudo-Aristotelian Secret of Secrets) foreshadows Umberto Eco; the links between politics, religion, change and literary production recall the Luther Blissett collective's Q; and the book's mystical depiction of transformation and breakthrough through connection with an inner self puts one in mind of the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. It ought to have been a cult success at least.
Blish cautions that his book is not a novelised biography: history has left us few details about Bacon's life, and even some of these are contested. This includes Bacon's long imprisonment in old age, which here comprises some of the most vivid parts of the story. Blish fills in gaps with imagination, creating a narrative that takes in King Henry III of England, his sister Eleanor of Pembroke and brother-in-law Simon De Montfort, as well as Albertus Magnus and Petrus Peregrinus de Maricourt, among others. A note in a Bacon manuscript that may or may not have been added Bacon himself suggests that Bacon held Peter the Peregrine in high regard; in this telling, however, they are colleagues in a secret group in Paris that meets to perform scientific experiments. Some of Blish's embellishments are traditional: in the sixteenth century the playwright Robert Greene produced Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, which links Bacon with the friar-alchemist Thomas Bungay; Blish knows that this is a legend, but he writes in his postscript that "since virtually nothing is known about him except that he existed, I felt free to accept it."
Bacon is known as the first European to have discovered how to make gunpowder; in this story, the formula is revealed to him a dramatic vision, albeit in the form of a strange epigram which he has to ponder and decode. This is not a revelation from God, but rather a message from his inner self, depicted as a head "burning as were of brass in a furnace" – as Ketterner notes, a nod to the legend of the talking brass head that has been attached both to Albertus and to Bacon.
However, despite Blish giving us a window into Bacon's mind and the promptings of his inner voice, character motivation are sometimes difficult to discern. Why is Bacon such an enthusiast for the mystical and millenarian teachings of Joachim of Fiore – so much so that he is willing to be imprisoned than abjure them? On one level, he was simply being true to his mystical vision; but is it also symptomatic of how a scientist in a pre-scientific age will be led up dead ends, like Isaac Newton's Biblical calculations four hundred years later? Ketterer explains that Blish accepted a Spenglerian schema of "epochs", and this would seem to be echoed by Joachim's prediction of an Age of the Holy Spirit beginning in 1260.
One difficulty with the book is the use of deliberately archaic language to depict dialogue in Middle English, in contrast to conversations and thoughts in Latin and French (there are also some uncompromising quotes in Latin, which Blish assures us are explained by the surrounding context). More than this, though, the dense prose in places demands very careful attention to work out what exactly is going on, and the historical context is not always clear (even in the UK, the long reign of Henry III is something of an amnesiac lacuna between Robin Hood and Braveheart). There are also some strange digressions, particularly a subplot about Eleanor and her confessor Adam Marsh.
June 28, 2023
‘…there can be nothing that is forbidden for man to know since we ate of that Apple; for it states in the Proverbs that knowledge is good and beautiful for its own sake.’
‘Bitterly it mathinketh me, that I spent mine wholle lyf in the lists against the ignorant. Enough! Lord Christ, enough!’
'Doctor Mirabilis' is a ‘fictionalised biography’ of the medieval English philosopher and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon - who was referred to in his heyday as Doctor Mirabilis. The SF writer James Blish wrote this historical novel as part of a subsequently entitled trilogy 'After Such Knowledge' (which wasn’t originally conceived as a trilogy, and is arguably really a tetralogy as two seperate books are often published as one). The name of the trilogy is taken from T.S. Eliot’s 1919 poem ‘Gerontion’ (meaning ‘little old man’):
After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,
Guides us by vanities.
Blish was preoccupied with the notion that science and knowledge generally had led humanity into an fallen spiritual and moral condition. This is further alluded to in Eliot’s poem where he refers to 'tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree' (Adam’s lament after eating forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden). Blish was particularly taken with the notion that the creation of the Atom Bomb now meant that science knew an ‘Original Sin’. The other books in the ‘After Such Knowledge’ series are 'A Case Of Conscience' and 'Black Easter/The Day After Judgement' (originally seperate but usually published together), both of which contend with issues of nuclear destruction that may be demonically inspired (in ‘Conscience’) or actually demonic (in the case of ‘Black … Judgement’).
While ‘Conscience’ won a Hugo Award in 1959, Doctor Mirabilis is the least known and (arguably) the least successful book of the series. Blish did massive research into the Middle Ages, but unfortunately the story gets bogged down in historical detail, and uses medieval grammar, spelling, and inflections that make it difficult for a contemporary reader. Blish regarded Bacon as a pioneer of science, even though in his time Bacon was regarded as a magician and mystic. Blish assumes a lot of prior knowledge about Bacon and his times (e.g. The Second Barons' War (1264–1267), a civil war in England between barons led by Simon de Montfort against King Henry III) that readers disinclined to be referencing Wikipedia for ever other page may find off putting.
The cover of the Arrow edition of Doctor Mirabilis shows the difficulties that Blish’s publishers had marketing this book - which is very different from his better known SF works such as ‘Cities in Flight’. The image of the Moon and a Comet makes it look more 'science fiction-y’ than historical. However it is a deeply philosophical work about a compelling historical character, just be prepared for a tough climb to the top of the mountain (which is also on the cover).
‘Bitterly it mathinketh me, that I spent mine wholle lyf in the lists against the ignorant. Enough! Lord Christ, enough!’
'Doctor Mirabilis' is a ‘fictionalised biography’ of the medieval English philosopher and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon - who was referred to in his heyday as Doctor Mirabilis. The SF writer James Blish wrote this historical novel as part of a subsequently entitled trilogy 'After Such Knowledge' (which wasn’t originally conceived as a trilogy, and is arguably really a tetralogy as two seperate books are often published as one). The name of the trilogy is taken from T.S. Eliot’s 1919 poem ‘Gerontion’ (meaning ‘little old man’):
After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions,
Guides us by vanities.
Blish was preoccupied with the notion that science and knowledge generally had led humanity into an fallen spiritual and moral condition. This is further alluded to in Eliot’s poem where he refers to 'tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree' (Adam’s lament after eating forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden). Blish was particularly taken with the notion that the creation of the Atom Bomb now meant that science knew an ‘Original Sin’. The other books in the ‘After Such Knowledge’ series are 'A Case Of Conscience' and 'Black Easter/The Day After Judgement' (originally seperate but usually published together), both of which contend with issues of nuclear destruction that may be demonically inspired (in ‘Conscience’) or actually demonic (in the case of ‘Black … Judgement’).
While ‘Conscience’ won a Hugo Award in 1959, Doctor Mirabilis is the least known and (arguably) the least successful book of the series. Blish did massive research into the Middle Ages, but unfortunately the story gets bogged down in historical detail, and uses medieval grammar, spelling, and inflections that make it difficult for a contemporary reader. Blish regarded Bacon as a pioneer of science, even though in his time Bacon was regarded as a magician and mystic. Blish assumes a lot of prior knowledge about Bacon and his times (e.g. The Second Barons' War (1264–1267), a civil war in England between barons led by Simon de Montfort against King Henry III) that readers disinclined to be referencing Wikipedia for ever other page may find off putting.
The cover of the Arrow edition of Doctor Mirabilis shows the difficulties that Blish’s publishers had marketing this book - which is very different from his better known SF works such as ‘Cities in Flight’. The image of the Moon and a Comet makes it look more 'science fiction-y’ than historical. However it is a deeply philosophical work about a compelling historical character, just be prepared for a tough climb to the top of the mountain (which is also on the cover).
March 1, 2025
Science fiction writer James Blish writes a historical novel about medieval scholar Roger Bacon with the themes of a science fiction novel: Bacon is trying to spread the "new knowledge" of newly-rediscovered Aristotle and similar ancient thinkers, while developing it further, in the face of hostile skeptical forces in Church and State.
I'm left wondering in the end how much was true, how much actual ancient legend, and how much invented by Blish. Blish's afterword says he invented much less than I suspected...
It's a decent story, though not the most engaging, and very slowly paced since it tells most of Bacon's life.
I'm left wondering in the end how much was true, how much actual ancient legend, and how much invented by Blish. Blish's afterword says he invented much less than I suspected...
It's a decent story, though not the most engaging, and very slowly paced since it tells most of Bacon's life.
October 12, 2020
Very hard read. I've been trying to get through this book as I'm really interested in the main character (Roger Bacon) and I graduated in Philosophy, for quite a few weeks now -- but this is a long, boring and really hard-to-read book, with tons of parts in Latin, Medieval English and other languages without even a footnote to help you navigate them.
I've finally had enough: I'm interrupting it now at almost 1/3, perhaps I will come back to it later, but most probably not.
I've finally had enough: I'm interrupting it now at almost 1/3, perhaps I will come back to it later, but most probably not.
September 2, 2022
Just impossible.
It's boring go rarely seen extents. The drivel in the first fifth of the book about the various nobles, and their relationships, etc. While it's well researched, and not badly written, it reads more like a plot-free soliloquy on the era, vs a fictional retelling that should grab the reader's attention.
Admittedly, I couldn't stomach it. Had to stop. I even tried starting again after a break, but no.
It's boring go rarely seen extents. The drivel in the first fifth of the book about the various nobles, and their relationships, etc. While it's well researched, and not badly written, it reads more like a plot-free soliloquy on the era, vs a fictional retelling that should grab the reader's attention.
Admittedly, I couldn't stomach it. Had to stop. I even tried starting again after a break, but no.
February 12, 2024
Quite a good book. About the making of a Scientific Tome about the current scientific knowledge of the day. This Tome was funded by the Pope through the Vatican,.
It was written for the Pope to keep him up to date on what was going on in the World right now so he knew which challenges to prepare for. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Scientific History It's a great quick read.
It was written for the Pope to keep him up to date on what was going on in the World right now so he knew which challenges to prepare for. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Scientific History It's a great quick read.
June 24, 2025
My first Blish and certainly not what I was expecting. It reminded me very much of John Banville's historical novels about the great scientists and was happily on a par with those excellent works. The untranslated use of Latin was a little annoying, I skipped them without too much guilt, ditto some of the olde English. Blish does a great job of getting inside how people in that time period thought and how overpowering the part played by religion was in their lives.
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November 13, 2019I read this some years ago and it re-surfaced when I was sorting my SF collection of > 1000 books. At the time I had very little familiarity with Medieval history. Still I really enjoyed the book depite my ignorance. It falls into the category of what if? which is my altogether favourite in any genre.
March 23, 2020
This was a promising book with an interesting premise and good writing. What absolutely ruins it is the author's constant use of Latin with no translation. I'm not kidding, this happens almost every page. Ridiculous and pretentious.
October 23, 2022
Couldn't get past the first twenty pages. Deliberately written in a dense prose style of the period in question. Appears to be a life of Roger Bacon, the scientist, philosopher and alchemist. Just too hard going for me I'm afraid. May return to it one day
December 3, 2025
I rather liked this one, because it went into a completely different direction than I anticipated. Maybe no literary materpiece, but it's a story that shows us it's not all doom and gloom , and how human behavior can surprise us when confronted with the alien.
August 23, 2021
DNF @ 5%. Blish was a good writer but this was most definitely not my cuppa tea.
July 23, 2022
Solid look at the life of Roger Bacon. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/200...
September 13, 2024
Very interesting but I could do without some of the subplots, and the switches between modern and "period" English gave me a bit of whiplash.
October 8, 2019
This a recounting of the English philosopher and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon's life and struggle to develop a 'Universal Science'. Blish makes the case that Bacon is the first "scientist".
September 14, 2016
The story of Roger Bacon, a thirteenth century Franciscan monk, who in many ways laid the foundation of the scientific method. At times (23 years) held in solitary confinement, or isolation from all, due to his beliefs and his rigid adherence to them in face of threats from the Church, he never-the-less published a whole series of books and arguments that laid the basis for many scientific inventions. In many ways a difficult book that at times lapses into old English and Latin that makes the plot very difficult to follow. I enjoyed it both for its descriptions of 13-century learning, and the machinations of power both at court and in the universities of the day. The centers of power were Oxford, Rome (of course) and Paris and the story oscillates between all three. Very different to most of the author’s work, with no science fiction in at all, very much a historical recounting.
January 24, 2016
First in the 'After Such Knowledge' sequence, this is a densely written historical novel about Roger Bacon, the 13th century philosopher/scientist and Franciscan monk. Although most of it is imaginative extrapolation, because the facts are few and far between, Blish does manage to evoke the whole attitude of the time especially among the scholars and clerics.
Due to his combative character and unwillingness to compromise, Bacon comes into conflict with an increasingly dictatorial church authority and pays the price with the loss of his freedom and ability to work. Despite the use of quite a few passages in Latin and the representation of the speech patterns of the middle ages, it is an absorbing read and has a touching conclusion. Giving it four stars as the lack of translations for the Latin is occasionally a stumbling block.
Read as part of the After Such Knowledge omnibus and posted as an individual review as all the other GR reviews are under the individual books.
Due to his combative character and unwillingness to compromise, Bacon comes into conflict with an increasingly dictatorial church authority and pays the price with the loss of his freedom and ability to work. Despite the use of quite a few passages in Latin and the representation of the speech patterns of the middle ages, it is an absorbing read and has a touching conclusion. Giving it four stars as the lack of translations for the Latin is occasionally a stumbling block.
Read as part of the After Such Knowledge omnibus and posted as an individual review as all the other GR reviews are under the individual books.
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