Previously Unpublished Works, Fascicle 16

For it imposes necessity upon free will, claiming that a person born under such a constellation must necessarily be chaste, while another born under a different constellation must be lustful. It teaches this regarding all other characters and fortunes and all human acts, asserting that necessity is confirmed by the power of the stars. In this view, neither reason, nor counsel, nor the grace of God has any value, nor can the temptation of the devil harm a person in this life.
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folio 72 verso, column 1

Likewise, this false science promises certainty about every future event, as well as about hidden things in the present, the past, and the natural world. Both of these claims are a sin. They are not only contrary to the faith but also contrary to
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philosophical truth. This kind of "mathematics" is named after mantos or mantia Bacon derives this from the Greek "manteia," meaning divination or soothsaying. which means divination, as I have explained in my treatise on Greek Grammar.

But true mathematics, which considers quantity and its types, makes no such claims except regarding things that are renewed in the heavens, such as eclipses and the motions of the
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stars and similar phenomena. In these matters, it can provide total certainty and can, and ought to, judge truthfully. However, it does not presume to give infallible judgment or certainty regarding all earthly things, and especially not regarding human works.
Nevertheless, it does provide certainty about celestial things, which are the causes of these
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natural earthly things and provide the occasions for human actions. Through these celestial causes, a person who is skilled in the things of the world and moderate in judgment can judge many things truthfully and in a praiseworthy manner.
But these matters have been verified in the Metaphysics insofar as they pertain to that science. This difficulty will soon be explained below
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when the parts of mathematics are mentioned, and the discussion will be completed in the treatise on Judicial Astronomy In the medieval period, "judicial astronomy" referred to the study of how celestial bodies influenced physical health and human inclinations, as opposed to "superstitious" astrology which claimed to predict the future with absolute necessity..

This true mathematics is written with an "h" and is derived from mathesis Bacon distinguishes between măthesis (with a short 'e'), meaning divination, and māthesis (with a long 'e'), meaning discipline or learning. which means discipline. It has a long middle syllable, as I explained in my Greek Grammar, although the common crowd of Latin speakers believes that the middle syllable is short, which leads to the creation of false verses such as:

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original: "Scire facit mathesis sed divinare mathesis"

and similar examples.

The third part of the first chapter.

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This true mathematics is said to concern quantity, such as lines, surfaces, bodies, and numbers.

Line 21: The manuscript uses an abbreviation for "moderate" (temperatus).