I've always been happy to be a member of my generation. Sure, we're considered slackers and technology addicts, and many of us are terrible at geography and world affairs. But hey, the Internet? Reliable cars? The Pixies? The comforts of…

From Mirchacco's Flickr photostream.

Considered by some to be the first scientist, Roger Bacon was a Franciscan friar and English philosopher known for his emphasis on empirical research and experimentation. Bacon studied at Oxford at the tender age of 13, and later became an…