Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 77.djvu/243

Rh to the imperfection of Nature not answerable to the preciseness of demonstration."

The preface is framed for such

It seems certain that John Dee had also a conscious belief in the value to science itself of the application of its principles. He invites his reader to "consider the infinite desire of knowledge, and incredible power of man's Search and Capacitye how, they jointly have waded farder by mixtying of speculation and practise." Compare with this a sentence by Ernst Haeckel written three centuries later:

John Dee's long life covers a dramatic period in the history of the development of thought, and as the most widely known English scholar of his generation his education and wanderings are interesting. It was in 1526 that the books were burned in Oxford in the futile attempt to stop the new learning. In the following year John Dee was born of the ancient family of Dees of Radnorshire. His father, Rowland Dee, was by some accounts a vintner in London, by others he is described as gentleman sewer to Henry VIII. Whatever his occupation, he was a friend to the universities, and in 1542 sent his son to St. John's College, Cambridge. Here he remained, first as student, then as foundation fellow, until 1546. When in the same year Trinity College was founded by patent of Henry VIII., Dee was made one of the original fellows and was, as he says, assigned there to be the "under reader of the Greek tongue." At the same time he was occupied with mathematical and astronomical studies and on "going down" gave to Trinity his astronomical instruments.

At that time the men of the universities seemed not to aspire to know more than was to be learned from Plato and Aristotle. That John Dee had a mental appetite beyond the ability of Cambridge to satisfy appears from his account of his wanderings.