Vital Perspectives: ft. Meagan Allen with Lawrence Principe

The Vital Perspectives on Healthcare and Science series engages with some of the most pressing public health issues of our time, in a regular public forum catalyzed by a book.

For the November event, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Meagan S. Allen to share her new book The Sciences of Roger Bacon’s Opus Maius, which offers insight into Bacon’s understanding of the role of science in society and the study and practice of science in the later Middle Ages. Written at the request of Pope Clement IV (d. 1268), the Opus maius contains English Franciscan and polymath Roger Bacon’s plans for educational and ecclesiastical reform through the study of arts and sciences, which Bacon saw as having been neglected in the curricula of the major European universities. In writing the Opus maius, Bacon wanted to demonstrate that not only were the sciences a solid foundation for learning theology, but they could also improve society and help mankind attain salvation.

Dr. Lawrence M. Principe will join Dr. Allen in conversation. This event is open to the public, and we encourage you to come even if it's your first time joining for this event series!

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

Meagan S. Allen is a historian of science, specializing in the medical alchemy of the later Middle Ages. Her research interests lie at the intersection of alchemy, pharmacology, and theology, especially in the writings of the thirteenth-century polymath Roger Bacon. She is the author of Roger Bacon and the Incorruptible Human: Alchemy, Pharmacology, and the Desire to Prolong Life (2023), which examines Bacon’s desire to use alchemy to create a medicine that would extend human life by centuries. Allen is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Dr. Lawrence M. Principe is Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Principe earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Delaware. He also holds two doctorates: a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Johns Hopkins University. In 1999, the Carnegie Foundation chose Professor Principe as the Maryland Professor of the Year, and in 1998 he received the Templeton Foundation's award for courses dealing with science and religion. Johns Hopkins has repeatedly recognized Professor Principe's teaching achievements. He has won its Distinguished Faculty Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award, and the George Owen Teaching Award. In 2004, Professor Principe was awarded the first Francis Bacon Prize by the California Institute of Technology, awarded to an outstanding scholar whose work has had substantial impact on the history of science, the history of technology, or historically-engaged philosophy of science. Professor Principe has published numerous papers and is the author or coauthor of three books, including The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest.

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