I am a historian of alchemy, specializing in the medical alchemy of the later Middle Ages. My current research interests lie at the intersection of alchemy, pharmacology, and theology, especially in the writings of the 13^th century Franciscan polymath Roger Bacon (d. 1292).

My first book, Roger Bacon and the Incorruptible Human: Alchemy, Pharmacology, and the Desire to Prolong Life (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023), examines Roger Bacon’s alchemical theories, and explains how he believed that the key to extending life lay not in the curricula as taught in the medical faculties of the universities, but in the study of alchemy. Though 12^th and 13^th century alchemy was generally concerned with the transmutation of metals, Bacon’s alchemy was a much larger area of study, and encompassed the generation and corruption of all material things in the sublunary world. It was this aspect of alchemy that explained how the four elements interacted with each other to make the basis of reality as man could know it. Thus, the study of alchemy in conjunction with humoral medicine could explain not only how the human body worked, but how it interacted with the materials around it, illuminating the method of prolonging life to extreme lengths.

Currently, I am editing a volume on the sciences in Roger Bacon’s Opus maius, which will be published with Routledge in 2024. Written at the request of Pope Clement IV, the Opus maius contains 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. This volume explores the sciences Bacon thought were most important in this scheme, demonstrating how he understood and practiced them, as well as how he envisioned they would fit together into his larger program of scientific reform.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, I was the 2021-2023 Cain Postdoctoral Fellow at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia. I received my PhD in History of Science from Indiana University in 2021, and have held visiting fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (2019-2020) and Corpus Christi College, Oxford (2021).

Books

The Sciences of Roger Bacon’s Opus Maius. Meagan S. Allen, ed. Routledge: Global Perspectives on the History of Natural Philosophy. Forthcoming 2024.

Roger Bacon and the Incorruptible Human (1220-1292): Alchemy, Pharmacology, and the Desire to Prolong Life. London: Palgrave MacMillan, January 2023.

Articles and Chapters

“Roger Bacon’s Medical Alchemy and the Multiplication of Species.” In The Philosophy and Science of Roger Bacon: Studies in Honour of Jeremiah Hackett, edited by Nicola Polloni and Yael Kedar. London: Taylor and Francis. 2021.

“Revisiting Isaac Newton’s Index Chemicus: A Response to Richard S. Westfall.” Ambix 66:1 (February 2019): 72-81.

“Regulus of Antimony Made with Various Metals.” Chymical Encyclopedia, Database, and Repository (February 2018).

Faculty Books:

The Sciences of Roger Bacon’s Opus Maius. Meagan S. Allen, ed. Routledge: Global Perspectives on the History of Natural Philosophy. Forthcoming 2024.

Roger Bacon and the Incorruptible Human (1220-1292): Alchemy, Pharmacology, and the Desire to Prolong Life. London: Palgrave MacMillan, January 2023.