Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist. His works argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Most importantly, he argued this could be achieved by use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. His general idea of the importance and possibility of a skeptical methodology makes Bacon the father of the scientific method. This marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, the practical details of which are still central in debates about science and methodology today.
Biography information from
Wikiquote·
Portrait adapted from
Wikimedia Commons, Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger (Public domain / CC0)
Also Known As
Alternative Names:
Franciscus Bacon
•
Francis Bacon of Verulamius
•
Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam
•
Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626
•
Francis Bacon, Viscount Saint Alban
Portrait from Wikimedia Commons. Credit: Paul van Somer I / Formerly attributed to Frans Pourbus the Younger. Used under Public domain / CC0. Processed and styled by Quotewise.
PREMIUM FEATURE
Advanced Search Filters
Filter search results by source, date, and more with our premium search tools.
"For myself, I found that I was fitted for nothing so well as for the study of Truth; as having a mind nimble and versatile enough to catch the resemblances of things and at the same time steady enough to fix and distinguish their subtler differences; as being gifted by nature with desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and as being a man that neither affects what is new nor admires what is old, and that hates every kind of imposture." -Francis Bacon
Men create oppositions, which are not; and put them into new terms, so fixed, as whereas the meaning ought to govern the term, the term in effect governeth the meaning. There be also two false peaces, or unities: the one, when the peace is grounded, but upon an implicit ignorance; for all colors will agree in the dark: the other, when it is pieced up, upon a direct admission of contraries, in fundamental points. For truth and falsehood, in such things, are like the iron and clay, in the toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image; they may cleave, but they will not incorporate.
Go Premium
Support Quotewise while enjoying an ad-free experience and premium features.
