[6] Scholars such as James A. Weisheipl and Joachim R. Söder have referred to him as the greatest German philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages.

A late account by Rudolph de Novamagia refers to Albertus' encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who convinced him to enter the Holy Orders.

Selected to fill the position of lecturer at Cologne, Germany, where the Dominicans had a house, he taught for several years there, as well as in Regensburg, Freiburg, Strasbourg, and Hildesheim.

During his first tenure as lecturer at Cologne, Albert wrote his Summa de bono after having a discussion with Philip the Chancellor concerning the transcendental properties of being.

In 1254, Albert was made provincial of the Dominican Order[11] and fulfilled the duties of the office with great care and efficiency.

During his tenure, he publicly defended the Dominicans against attacks by the secular faculty of the University of Paris, commented on John the Evangelist, and answered what he perceived as errors of the Islamic philosopher Averroes.

This innovation initiated the tradition of Dominican scholastic philosophy put into practice, for example, in 1265 at the Order's studium provinciale at the convent of Santa Sabina in Rome, out of which would develop the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelicum".

During the exercise of his duties he enhanced his reputation for humility by refusing to ride a horse, in accord with the dictates of the Order, instead traversing his huge diocese on foot.

In 1263, Pope Urban IV relieved him of the duties of bishop and asked him to preach the eighth Crusade in German-speaking countries.

Under the auspices of Humbert of Romans, Albert molded the curriculum of studies for all Dominican students, introduced Aristotle to the classroom and probed the work of Neoplatonists, such as Plotinus.

Indeed, it was the thirty years of work done by Aquinas and himself that allowed for the inclusion of Aristotelian study in the curriculum of Dominican schools.

He was canonized and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 16 December 1931 by Pope Pius XI[16][19] and the patron saint of natural scientists in 1941.

These displayed his prolific habits and encyclopedic knowledge of topics such as logic, theology, botany, geography, astronomy, astrology, mineralogy, alchemy, zoology, physiology, phrenology, justice, law, friendship, and love.

He digested, interpreted, and systematized the whole of Aristotle's works, gleaned from the Latin translations and notes of the Arabian commentators, in accordance with Church doctrine.

His industry in every department was great: not only did he produce commentaries and paraphrases of the entire Aristotelian corpus, including his scientific works, but Albert also added to and improved upon them.

His books on topics like botany, zoology, and minerals included information from ancient sources, but also results of his own empirical investigations.

In the case of embryology, for example, it has been claimed that little of value was written between Aristotle and Albert, who managed to identify organs within eggs.

According to legend, Albert is said to have discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it on to his pupil Thomas Aquinas, shortly before his death.

[30] Throughout the Middle Ages –and well into the early modern period– astrology was widely accepted by scientists and intellectuals who held the view that life on earth is effectively a microcosm within the macrocosm (the latter being the cosmos itself).

[30] The most comprehensive statement of his astrological beliefs is to be found in two separate works that he authored around 1260, known as the Speculum astronomiae and De Fato.

[31] However, details of these beliefs can be found in almost everything he wrote, from his early De natura boni to his last work, the Summa theologiae.

He rejected the idea of "music of the spheres" as ridiculous: movement of astronomical bodies, he supposed, is incapable of generating sound.

In his Divine Comedy, Dante places Albertus with his pupil Thomas Aquinas among the great lovers of wisdom (Spiriti Sapienti) in the Heaven of the Sun.

In The Concept of Anxiety, Søren Kierkegaard wrote that Albert, "arrogantly boasted of his speculation before the deity and suddenly became stupid."

[46] Albertus Magnus Science Hall at Thomas Aquinas College, in Santa Paula, California, is named in honor of Albert.

In Managua, Nicaragua, the Albertus Magnus International Institute, a business and economic development research center, was founded in 2004.

John Zahm, C.S.C., after whom the men's residence hall is named, looked to St. Albert's example of using religion to illumine scientific discovery.

The second largest student's fraternity of the Netherlands, located in the city of Groningen, is named Albertus Magnus, in honor of the saint.

The Colegio Cientifico y Artistico de San Alberto, Hopelawn, New Jersey, USA with a sister school in Nueva Ecija, Philippines was founded in 1986 in honor of him who thought and taught that religion, the sciences and the arts may be advocated as subjects which should not contradict each other but should support one another to achieve wisdom and reason.