Portrait of Francis Bacon. Frontispiece from his Francisci Baconi . . . Opera omnia quae extant, philosophica, moralia, politica, historica . . . (Frankfurt on Main: Impensis J. B. Schonwetteri, 1665) [Rare Books Division].

Called the father of empiricism, Sir Francis Bacon is credited with establishing and popularizing the “scientific method” of inquiry into natural phenomena. In stark contrast to deductive reasoning, which had dominated science since the days of Aristotle, Bacon introduced inductive methodology—testing and refining hypotheses by observing, measuring, and experimenting. An Aristotelian might logically deduce that water is necessary for life by arguing that its lack causes death. Aren’t deserts arid and lifeless? But that is really an educated guess, limited to the subjective experience of the observer and not based on any objective facts gathered about the observed. A Baconian would want to test the hypothesis by experimenting with water deprivation under different conditions, using various forms of life. The results of those experiments would lead to more exacting, and illuminating, conclusions about life’s dependency on water.

Throughout his life, Bacon lived mostly on the incline to success but beyond his means. He entered Trinity College at Cambridge at the age of twelve, traveled on the Continent, wrote significant and influential philosophical treatises and essays on reforming learning and reclassifying knowledge, served in Parliament, secured political appointments from Queen Elizabeth and King James I, was knighted in 1603, and became attorney general in 1613 and lord chancellor in 1618. However, always in debt, Bacon finally lost favor in 1621: he was convicted of corruption, heavily fined, and sentenced to the Tower of London (but was imprisoned only a few days). On a personal level, he was spurned for a wealthier man by the woman he loved, and he eventually married a fourteen-year-old when he was forty-five. Their marriage was fractious and soured, and he disinherited her in his will.

After the disgraceful end to his public life, Bacon devoted himself more fully to study and writing. Among his later works was a short piece of science fiction, New Atlantis: A Work Unfinished (published in Latin, 1624; posthumously in English, 1627), in which he envisioned a utopian society that embodied his aspirations for mankind. The setting is an island called Bensalem, discovered by a European ship that is lost in the Pacific west of Peru. The centerpiece of the model society is a state-sponsored college, “Salomon’s House,” instituted “for the Interpreting of Nature, and the Producing of Great and Marvelous Workes for the Benefit of Men.” Among its achievements are new foodstuffs and threads for apparel, artificial minerals and cements, accelerated germination of seeds, improved instruments of destruction (ideal societies are never safe), chambers where diseases are cured, and the creation of new and beneficial species. As one would expect in a Baconian world, there is a lot of experimentation conducted on the island and, more important, practical application of the knowledge gained. {For utopian maps, see the Utopia section of Theme Maps.]

Ironically, but perhaps not surprisingly, Bacon died from pneumonia while experimenting with snow as a way to preserve meat. His estate’s debts were substantial.