Sir Francis Bacon: Renaissance Man

Check out the The Essays of Francis Bacon 1601. Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher, writer, and historian held a number of official offices during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, such as: Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England (“Francis Bacon – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 30 Sep. 2008 .) During Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Bacon fell into and out of her favor at regular intervals (so it seems.) However, Bacon received more consistent good favor from King James I. Ahhh–the life of a courtier. A tricky business.

Bacon is also known for promoting and defending the scientific revolution. He developed “. . .a complex methodology for scientific inquiry which is often called the Baconian method.” (“Francis Bacon: free web books, online.” eBooks@Adelaide: Free Web Books, Online. 30 Sep. 2008 .) For biographical information, please see this link at Wikipedia. This link will also provide a detailed explanation of the Baconian Method. While the article about this method is not cited, it was the best explanation I could find. I tried to find another source that explained the Baconian Method, but I could only find basic dictionary definitions that were circular. For example, something like: The Baconian Method is the fore-runner to today’s scientific method. Not very helpful.

Anyway, the first link listed at the beginning of this post is an index to Sir Francis Bacon’s writings. I hope you find it interesting and useful.

This Link Cataloged
The Essays of Francis Bacon 1601 is cataloged on the Literature page of The Reading Room.