ABSTRACT
Bacon explains the logical mechanical reasons for inventions that the unenlightened might attribute to divine or demonic manipulation. Occult science, in Kieckhefer's definition, might advocate for using particular herbs or rituals for medical treatments; 'it was the science that dealt with occult virtues' within nature'. The mechanical gradually began to overshadow the abstract because Wilkins argued so convincingly for the respect of cryptography as a liberal art as well as a technical discipline and, further, for the inclusion of the mechanical arts in the university curriculum. The reputation of cryptography as a mathematic, technical discipline was established so effectively that Wilkins's genuine advocacy of cryptography as a liberal art, and as a discipline that embraces and demonstrates the abstract, became regarded as a mere rhetorical strategy and not as a statement of truth. The broader goal of commercialized information found the right audience at the right time.
