12th century science

Still slowly working my way through England Under The Norman and Angevin Kings by Robert Bartlett. Not exhilarating reading; rather, well researched and thorough. Up to page 522, Chapter 10, Cultural Patterns,Part 2, Education and High Learning, subsection Physical Science: regarding Adelard of Bath who travelled to the Mediterranean in the early 12th century "seeking scientific texts and instruction". He made translations of Arabic scientific works and wrote several books including Quaestiones Naturales (Natural Questions). He explores:

"a host of scientific issues:
 'the cause of the ebb and flow of the tides';
 'why the fingers are of unequal length';
 'whether the stars are animate';
 'why the living are afraid of the bodies of the dead' "

These issues may seem laughable by modern standards yet we now spend an inordinate amount of time studying the "stars" in popular magazines, and, judging by the volume of writing on diet and obesity, the living now seem to be afraid of their own bodies.