Francis Bacon

Sir Francis Bacon (later named as Viscount St. Albans and Lord Verulam) was an English lawyer, intellectual reformer, philosopher, statesman, essayist, historian, and proponent of modern science. He declared “all knowledge to be his domain” early in his career and then dedicated himself to a complete reappraisal and restructuring of traditional education. 

He proposed a completely new system based on empirical as well as inductive principles along with the active development of new inventions and art to replace the established tradition (a mishmash of humanism, Scholasticism, and natural magic), a system to produce practical knowledge for “the use and benefit of men” along with bringing relief to the human conditions.

Francis Bacon Biography 

• Francis Bacon was born into a notable affluent family in London, England, on January 2, 1561. He was the family’s eldest child.
• Sir Nicholas Bacon, Bacon’s father, was Lord Keeper of a Great Seal, a prominent government position.
• His mother was Anne Cooke, a Puritan scholar, translator, and ardent believer. She made every effort to raise her children to be as well-educated and religious as she was. Anne Cooke’s father tutored King Henry the Eighth’s son, who became King Edward the Sixth of England.
• William Shakespeare and Galileo Galilei were both born in 1564, whereas Johannes Kepler was born in 1571. They are other noteworthy persons from the same era as Bacon.
• Bacon’s education matched his affluent upbringing. He did homeschooling until he entered the University of Cambridge at the age of 12, where he was tutored privately once more. His classes were entirely in Latin, and they covered mathematics, music theory, logic, astronomy, geometry, rhetoric, and grammar.
• The most important subjects were believed to be grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Bacon was honoured as a serious young man who put in long hours.
• The ancient works of Aristotle dominated the sciences which were initially known as natural philosophy, at Cambridge and other European colleges.
• Despite Aristotle’s brilliant mind, Bacon came to believe that his theories and techniques were ineffective. Bacon despised how scholars ignored Aristotle’s work, effectively making the Ancient Greek philosopher a dictator in all but name — a dictator, according to Bacon, who was now impeding scientific progress.

Francis Bacon Facts

1. Pablo Picasso Was His Hero

While many painters consider Picasso a hero, Bacon attributes his artistic career to him. “Picasso is the reason I paint,” says the artist. Bacon told John Gruen in his book- The Artist Observed: A 28 Interviews With the Contemporary Artists, “He is the father figure who gave me the wish to paint.”

2. He Was A Movie Buff

Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 film Battleship Potamkin moved Bacon so much that he started painting the screaming nurse inside this iconic Odessa Steps sequence as research for the other screaming faces he used in his work. He dubbed the footage a “spark” since he was particularly taken with the nurse’s lips hanging open in agony.

3. He Threw Away A Lot Of His Early Work

According to his estate, Bacon was a part of the 1937 exhibition of “new British artists” curated by Eric Hall, but he threw off all of the paintings he exhibited in the show after it received unfavourable reviews. Few of his works from this time period have survived. However, following his death in 1992, a number of famous works that were previously thought to be lost, such as early 1950s popes and the portraits of the 1960s, have resurfaced, setting new auction records.

4. His Studio In Dublin Is Still Open To The Public

Dedicated Bacon lovers can go to the Hugh Lane Gallery to see a rebuilt facsimile of his studio, which includes numerous things from his famously chaotic studio area and his enormous collection of books and clippings.

Francis Bacon Theory 

The Crucial Experiment

• Bacon explored the Instantia Crucis – the key example – in his Novum Organum. This would be the example that proves which theory is correct in a circumstance when there are competing theories. Obviously, in science, a pivotal case is highly desirable.
• Robert Boyle and/or Robert Hooke expanded Bacon’s theory into the experimentum crucis – the crucial experiment – in the 1660s.
• Isaac Newton performed the most famous critical experiment of all time in 1672 when he split sunlight into a rainbow of colours with a glass prism and then recombined these hues into white light with a second prism. This demonstrated that sunshine is made up of light of various colours with varying refractive indices.

The Hypothetico Deductive Method is today’s scientific method. Bacon’s theories are being employed today, and the value of experimental facts and observations to science is now undeniable.

Many scientists nowadays employ the Hypothetico Deductive Method. This strategy is based on a scientist stating a hypothesis and then using data to determine whether it is true or untrue. When employing this strategy, it’s critical that the hypothesis be expressed in such a way that clear criteria for determining its falsity are stated.

Nature’s Laws Are Being Investigated

• Nature never tells you her secrets easily, according to Bacon. (He pictured Nature as a woman.)
• It will take a lot of effort and a lot of interrogation. Experiments that ask Nature the correct questions must be devised. Only then will she tell you the truth.
• She would not tell the truth to philosophers like Aristotle, who believed they could just sit in a chair or lie on a beach and persuade her into exposing her secrets by thinking. To guide your thoughts, you need to collect good evidence first.

Conclusion

He perished as a result of labouring in sub-zero conditions for too long. Winters in Europe were colder and longer than they are now during the “Little Ice Age.” With snow still on the ground in early April 1626, Bacon was motivated to do some food preservation experiments by freezing a chicken. Unfortunately, he grew chilly as a result of the weather. He developed a terrible cough, and his condition quickly deteriorated.

He wrote on his deathbed:  “… I was also eager to conduct a few experiments with body conservation and induration.” In terms of the experiment itself, it was a huge success…”