Albertus Magnus, Saint (1206?-1280), was a German-born Christian theologian, philosopher, and scientist. His importance lies in his awareness of the difference between theology and philosophy and between revealed truth and experimental science. He believed that different areas of knowledge follow different sets of laws and require different methods of investigation.
Albertus was advanced for his time in his knowledge of the sciences. He wrote about many scientific subjects, including astronomy, chemistry, geography, and physiology, using his own scientific observations. He devoted much of his time to popularizing the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. Albertus wrote a large number of commentaries on Aristotle’s philosophy. These writings influenced Saint Thomas Aquinas, Albertus’s most famous pupil, and other theologians known as scholastics (see Scholasticism ).
Albertus Magnus was born into a noble family in Lauingen, near Ulm. He attended the University of Padua in Italy, where he joined the Dominican religious order in 1223. He studied and taught at a number of European universities but spent most of his time in Cologne, Germany. Albertus served as a high-ranking Dominican official in Germany, as a bishop, and as a representative of the pope. He died on Nov. 15, 1280. His feast day is November 15. Albertus is the patron saint of students of the natural sciences.
