 Thomas spent three years in Paris, studying philosophy, and then was sent to Cologne, in 1248, under the supervision of  Albert the Great.  This older Dominican proved to be the ideal mentor. Albert was at the time the leading figure in the newly prominent program of melding Christian theology with Greek and Arabic philosophy. He possessed an encyclopedic grasp of the sciences of the day, which had been expanding at a dizzying pace thanks to the new availability of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation. It was Albert’s firm conviction, which became Aquinas’s own, that the Christian faith could only benefit from a profound engagement with philosophy and science.