Are there any (natural) scientists in Middle-earth?

Question

Put simply: by scientists, I mean a people whose job is to examine the world around them.

I know that a lot of characters even from LOTR are well educated and they used to study old books etc.
But I am looking for someone who is (in our world's words) a professional.

I am especially interested in natural science because I can imagine that there is not a sharp borderline between, i.e. wise adviser of some king and historian.

So, are there any mathematicians, physicians, zoologists, botanists, etc. in Tolkien's world? Actually, now I wonder if there is even Math…

Answer 1

Meriadoc Brandybuck

According to The Lord of the Rings's Prologue, Meriadoc was the author of many books, and one of the most important was Herblore of the Shire, where he details the history and origins of the Hobbit tradition of smoking Pipe-weed.

A small part of this book was included in the Prologue itself with the title Concerning Pipe-weed, and was not only an historical account but also a botanical treatise that described the various types of Pipe-weed as grown by Hobbits and the origins of this plant as researched by Meriadoc himself.

Answer 2

Saruman

Yes, he was evil, since Tolkien was not a great fan of industrialization, but Saruman studied the natural sciences. Specifically, he was familiar with optics. His "Saruman of many colors" schtick was a reference to the fact that a prism splits white light into a spectrum; it is implied that Saruman may have been the first to discover this.

"White!" he sneered. "It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken.

At the very least he was familiar with this principle of physics.

In addition, his use of the Uruk-Hai may have been magical, but might also have illustrated his study of principles of inheritance.

Finally, he is implied to be familiar with gunpowder, or something similar. He used an explosion to breach Helm's Deep, what Aragorn referred to as "lighting the fires of Orthanc".

Generally speaking, Saruman represents precisely the scientific method. He is developing Orthanc and the surrounding area and engaging in forays into industrialization.

The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store-houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces. Iron wheels revolved there endlessly, and hammers thudded. At night plumes of vapour steamed from the vents, lit from beneath with red light, or blue, or venomous green.

It is also worth noting that Gandalf's rejoinder to the quote of Saruman's mentioned previously implies that Saruman is engaging in scientific inquiry: he seeks to understand the nature of things.

' "In which case it is no longer white," said I. "And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.

Answer 3

Tom Bombadil?

OK, he doesn't seem much like a scientist at first glance, but bear with me ...

• He lives surrounded by nature, which he knows and understands better than anyone.
• He has a lot of wisdom and perception, more than other characters, which is never really explained.
• He is not motivated by worldly desires or politics, preferring to just stay in his own place and study the world around him.

All of that seems like it could fit the model of a scientist or academic. Tolkien would have known many such at Oxford. Specifically, given Tom's forest setting, perhaps a biologist.

Gandalf calls Tom a "moss-gatherer", as opposed to Gandalf's own "rolling stone". Taken at face value as a metaphor, this could simply mean Tom remained sedentary while Gandalf wandered the world. But if we look a level deeper, Tom is easy to imagine as literally a moss-gatherer, living in his forest and gathering botanical specimens to study.

In Tolkien's own words:

[Tom Bombadil] represents something that I feel important, though I would not be prepared to analyze the feeling precisely. [...] if you have, as it were taken 'a vow of poverty', renounced control, and take your delight in things for themselves without reference to yourself, watching, observing, and to some extent knowing [...] He is in a way the answer to [the Entwives] in the sense that he is almost the opposite, being say, Botany and Zoology (as sciences) and Poetry as opposed to Cattle-breeding and Agriculture and practicality.

_{-- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144}

Tolkien himself thought of Bombadil as representing the sciences of Botany and Zoology, as well as the art of Poetry.

Answer 4

The issue is complicated by the starkly different relationship that Men, Eldar, and Ainur have with Arda: It is never the true home of Men, whereas the Elves and the Ainur within Arda are bound to it until the end.

One aspect of this relationship is that the material of Arda responds to the will of the Eldar and the Ainur differently from the way it responds to the will of Men. Essentially, the former can put a bit of themselves into the artifact with which they are working.

One of the principles of science, as we understand it, is that matter simply doesn't do this; matter does what it does no matter what our desire is, and the Men in Tolkien's legendarium are as much bound by this restriction as we are.

Hence the artifacts made by the Elves had very curious and useful properties (the ropes used by the Fellowship practically had minds of their own). One of the Fellowship referred to this as magic when he saw it, to which the Elf who heard this said, in all candor and honesty, that the did not know what was meant by the term.

The upshot of this is that if there were people who studied the properties of matter, on the same understanding as our own scientists have, such people were certainly Men.

---

Addendum

Another thing that would hinder scientific progress is that the Men who were in extensive contact with Eldar would see them doing many wonderful things that they themselves could not equal. They would understandably conclude that there were important things about nature that they could never grasp, and that would defeat the whole point of science as we know it.

Answer 5

It surprises me that no one has mentioned the Númenóreans yet. From A Description of the Island of Númenor in Unfinished Tales:

The account of the Island of Númenor that here follows is derived from descriptions and simple maps that were long preserved in the archives of the Kings of Gondor. These represent but a small part of all that was once written, for many natural histories and geographies were composed by the learned men in Númenor; but these, like nearly all else of the arts and sciences of Númenor at its high tide, disappeared in the Downfall.

They watched the stars from the top of Isengard (astronomy/astrology), had great skill at navigation and engineering (mathematics), embalmed the dead, constructed huge buildings of impenetrable stone (Isengard and the walls of Minas Tirith) cultivated athelas (it was typically found where they had dwelt).

Answer 6

The Herb-master of the Houses of Healing

This gentleman studied botany and the healing effects of said botanics. He even knew the ancient names for those plants (modern-day equivalent of knowing the latin names):

Thereupon the herb-master entered. 'Your lordship asked for kingsfoil, as the rustics name it,' he said; or athelas in the noble tongue, or to those who know somewhat of the Valinorean...'

By a similar token, the healers in the Houses of Healing (including the warden, who I believe is mentioned) are presumably students of biology and anatomy.

Answer 7

Interesting question, because it lets us look at little deeper at our modern concept of science.

As you say, you are looking for someone who

is (in our world's words) a professional

and

whose job is to examine the world around them

There are basically two main understandings of "professional" in today's words:

A: Someone who is doing something to earn money (for a living)

B: Someone who is extraordinary good, because of his intense pursuit of something

If you choose interpretation B, then Saruman (see Adamant's great answer) is a good choice for a natural scientist.

For interpretation A things become a little more tricky. You would need some sort of person / organization, which is capable of paying, thus employing and binding people to itself. I have never seen or read that i.e. Saruman employed people to do research for his goals, though it might fit to his character.
This structure of employment for research is one key element to modern science which seems to be completely absent in Tolkien's world.

Also note that for interpretation A people's interests might shift: While the professional in B is free to act purely on his own behalf, a professional in A might be bound to the interests of his boss / employer.

Answer 8

Yes. From the Tolkien Gateway, ultimately based on the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth:

The title Wise-woman was applied to women of the Edain in the First Age who had great knowledge of the history and lore of their people. Some married, while others remained unwed, they were greatly esteemed among Men. All of them passed their knowledge on to a chosen successor, as was usual among the Wise of the Edain.

Two Wise-women are known by name: Adanel and Andreth.