Roger Bacon (c. 1214–1294), also known as Doctor Mirabilis (a medieval accolade, meaning "wonderful teacher"), was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods. He is sometimes credited as one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific method inspired by the works of Plato and Aristotle. Bacon was also one of the first to study the field of alchemy.