EARLY LIFE
Francis Bacon was born into a prominent wealthy family in
London, England, on January 2, 1561. He was the familys
youngest son.
Bacons father was Sir Nicholas Bacon, who held the powerful
government position of Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.
His mother was Anne Cooke, a scholar, translator, and holder of
strong Puritan beliefs. She tried hard to ensure that her children
were as well-educated and as puritanical as she was. Anne
Cookes father had been tutor to King Henry the Eighths son,
who became King Edward the Sixth of England.
Other notable people who lived in the same era as Bacon
include Galileo Galilei and William Shakespeare, both born in
1564, and Johannes Kepler, born in 1571.
Bacons education reflected his upper-class background. He was
tutored at home until, aged 12; he entered the University of
Cambridge, where he was again tutored privately. His lessons
were conducted entirely in Latin, focusing on arithmetic,
astronomy, geometry, grammar, music theory, logic, and
rhetoric.
Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were considered the most important
subjects. Bacon earned a reputation as a serious boy who worked
hard.
At Cambridge and other European universities the sciences, then
known as natural philosophy, were dominated by the ancient
works of Aristotle.
Bacon began to think that, although Aristotles intellect might
have been formidable, his ideas and methods led nowhere. The
unquestioning way scholars treated Aristotles work had elevated
him into the role of a dictator in all but name; a dictator who was
now blocking the development of science.
2. COUNSEL AND STATESMAN
Fortunately for Bacon, in 1581, he landed a job as a member for
Cornwall in the House of Commons. Bacon was also able to return
to Gray's Inn and complete his education. By 1582, he was
appointed the position of outer barrister. Bacon's political career
took a big leap forward in 1584, when he composed A Letter of
Advice to Queen Elizabeth, his very first political memorandum.
Bacon held his place in Parliament for nearly four decades, from
1584 to 1617, during which time he was extremely active in
politics, law and the royal court. In 1603, three years before he
married heiress Alice Barnham, Bacon was knighted upon James
I's ascension to the British throne. He continued to work his way
swiftly up the legal and political ranks, achieving solicitor general
in 1607 and attorney general six years later. In 1616, his career
peaked when he was invited to join the Privy Council. Just a year
later, he reached the same position of his father, Lord Keeper of
the Great Seal. In 1618, Bacon surpassed his father's
achievements when he was promoted to the lofty title of Lord
Chancellor, one of the highest political offices in England. In 1621,
Bacon became Viscount St. Albans.
In 1621, the same year that Bacon became Viscount St. Albans,
he was accused of accepting bribes and impeached by Parliament
for corruption. Some sources claim that Bacon was set up by his
enemies in Parliament and the court faction, and was used as a
scapegoat to protect the Duke of Buckingham from public
hostility. Bacon was tried and found guilty after he confessed. He
was fined a hefty 40,000 pounds and sentenced to the Tower of
London, but, fortunately, his sentence was reduced and his fine
was lifted. After four days of imprisonment, Bacon was released,
at the cost of his reputation and his long- standing place in
Parliament; the scandal put a serious strain on 60-year-old
Bacon's health.
3. PHILOSOPHER OF SCIENCE
Bacon remained in St. Alban's after the collapse of his political
career. Retired, he was now able to focus on one of his other
passions, the philosophy of science. From the time he had
reached adulthood, Bacon was determined to alter the face of
natural philosophy. He strove to create a new outline for the
sciences, with a focus on empirical scientific methodsmethods
that depended on tangible proofwhile developing the basis of
applied science. Unlike the doctrines of Aristotle and Plato,
Bacon's approach placed an emphasis on experimentation and
interaction, culminating in "the commerce of the mind with
things." Bacon's new scientific method involved gathering data,
prudently analyzing it and performing experiments to observe
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6. LINKOGRAPHY
http://www.biography.com/people/francis-bacon9194632#counsel-and-statesman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon
http://www.iep.utm.edu/bacon/
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