They can. [He'll concede that point.] As far as I've been able to figure, magic isn't something that you can just learn, or even something that can be passed down. But science-- that, is knowledge I can bring back with us.

[It's part of the reason he makes such frequent use of the library. When he's not trying to figure out a way to get them out of here, he's making himself useful by cramming as much potentially world-changing information he can into his brain. He shifts the weight of the huge book under his arm, which looks like a specialized encyclopedia.]