Definition for Bacon, Francis
From Biology Forums Dictionary
Bacon, Francis (1561 to 1626): Philosopher and statesman, born in England, UK. He studied at Cambridge. He was knighted by James I in 1603. He was in turn solicitor general (1607), attorney general (1613), privy counsellor (1616), Lord Keeper (1617), and Lord Chancellor (1618). Complaints were made that he accepted bribes from suitors in his court, and he was publicly accused before his colleagues, fined, imprisoned, and banished from parliament and the court. Although soon released, and later pardoned, he never returned to public office, and he died in London, deeply in debt. His philosophy is best studied in The Advancement of Learning (1605) and Novum Organum (1620). His stress on inductive methods gave a strong impetus to subsequent scientific investigation. Bacon’s method consisted in interrogating nature (he asks us to imagine Nature ‘on the rack’), deriving correlations and demonstrating predictive ability, and moving from the particular instance to ever-more general, comprehensive laws. Necessary for the development of his ‘new engine, according to Bacon, was the extirpation of the ‘Four Idols’—---those of the tribe, of the cave, of the marketplace, and of the theatre.
