Francis Bacon was born on January 22nd, 1561 to a high birth in England, with his father Sir Nicholas Bacon being Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth I. From a young age, Francis Bacon studied hard to follow in the footsteps of his father as a statesman starting legal studies at The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn at the age of 15 and studying at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. During his studies at Cambridge, he gained an interest in natural philosophy as he read the works of Aristotle and believed his ideas and theories surrounding the subject matter were misguided. Bacon wanted to rework how natural philosophy was done and thought about and leave a mark on the philosophical world. In the meantime, he interned in France in 1576, returning to England only upon the death of his father in 1579. He returned to his legal studies and became an accomplished attorney in the next few years, as well as starting a career in parliament in 1584 using his uncle’s influence to gain a seat. Despite his youth, Bacon became well known in parliament as a great orator capturing the attention of everyone when he spoke and always standing by his principles despite it making some people upset. During this time he also began writing various essays about parliamentary issues and discourse. However Bacon’s political career was derailed when he voted against the Queen’s wishes on raising taxes to fund a war against Spain in 1593, and the Queen hearing of this refused to promote him to any higher office. Being stuck in his position Bacon began writing his philosophical masterwork, The Great Insaturation. This work was a six-part plan to reimagine how natural philosophy was conceived of and done, with a focus on observation and experimentation rather than just rationalism. In addition to this, he wrote more political and legal essays until King James VI came into power in 1603. Francis Bacon was knighted and soon began to rise in ranks until eventually achieving the position of Lord High Chancellor of England in 1618, a position surpassing that of even his father, all while continuing his works on natural philosophy. However, in 1621 he was caught in a scandal of corruption before admitting to his crimes and being fined and locked in the Tower of London. Although the fine was remitted and his sentence cut short, he was unable to get a pardon from the King and thus lost the right to hold public office. During the last few years of his life, Bacon continued his writings, and now free of his political duties he went on to write more than ever. His life was cut short however when he was trying to find an alternative way of preserving meat, and while discovering refrigeration he succumbed to an illness and died only a few days later in April of 1626. During his life, Bacon’s works were notable for challenging the views of his day, as he believed they relied on faulty reasoning and poor science, though in his time his ideas never took hold. Although Bacon never finished The Great Insaturation his works and discoveries were still something revolutionary for the time and inspired the change in the world he wanted to create. His works in the legal realm resulted in the charters for the colonial governments in America, changes in the common law, inspiration for the Napoleonic Code, and the creation of modern jurisprudence. In the realm of natural philosophy, his scientific method went on to inspire great thinkers like Voltaire who called him “the father of experimental philosophy”. On top of this, it’s likely Bacon’s writings led to some of the greatest scientific discoveries, like those of Isaac Newton, and are responsible for the Scientific Revolution. If it were not for Sir Francis Bacon, we would not have the scientific world that we have today, he succeeded in making the world reconsider how science should be done.
Urbach, Peter. Francis Bacon’s Philosophy of Science : An Account and a Reappraisal. La Salle, Ill. : Open Court, 1987. Pgs 1-9.