there was
progress in the mediaeval epoch, the learned men were, for the most
part, physicians. Now the meaning of this must be self-evident. The
physician naturally "intends" his mind towards the practicalities. His
professional studies tend to make him an investigator of the operations
of nature. He is usually a sceptic, with a spontaneous interest in
practical science. But the theologian "intends" his mind away from
practicalities and towards mysticism. He is a professional believer in
the supernatural; he discounts the value of merely "natural" phenomena.
His whole attitude of mind is unscientific; the fundamental tenets
of his faith are based on alleged occurrences which inductive science
cannot admit--namely, miracles. And so the minds "intended" towards
the supernatural achieved only the hazy mysticism of mediaeval thought.
Instead of investigating natural laws, they paid heed (as, for example,
Thomas Aquinas does in his Summa Theologia) to the "acts of angels,"
the "speaking of angels," the "subordination of angels," the "deeds of
guardian angels," and the like. They disputed such important questions
as, How many angels can stand upon the point of a needle? They argued
pro and con as to whether Christ were coeval with God, or whether he had
been merely created "in the beginning," perhaps ages before the creation
of the world. How could it be expected that science should flourish when
the greatest minds of the age could concern themselves with problems
such as these?

Despite our preconceptions or prejudices, there can be but one answer to
that question. Oriental superstition cast its blight upon the fair field
of science, whatever compensation it may or may not have brought in
other fields. But we must be on our guard lest we overestimate or
incorrectly estimate this influence. Posterity, in glancing backward,
is always prone to stamp any given age of the past with one idea, and to
desire to characterize it with a single phrase; whereas in reality all
ages are diversified, and any generalization regarding an epoch is sure
to do that epoch something less or something more than justice. We
may be sure, then, that the ideal of ecclesiasticism is not solely
responsible for the scientific stasis of the dark age. Indeed, there was
another influence of a totally different character that is too patent
to be overlooked--the influence, namely, of the economic condition of
western Europe during this period. As I have else