Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) served as the Lord Chancellor of England. His books, particularly Advancement of Learning (1605) and Novum Organum (Latin for New Instrument, 1620), exerted a powerful influence on the development of early modern science and early modern thought.
Religious orientation
His mother Anne Bacon held deep orthodox protestant convictions and had Francis and his brother tutored in the Reformed creed as well as in a less formal style reflecting an influence of continental Calvinism. Francis's 1602 Confession of Faith mirrors Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Although some of Francis's writings do contain criticisms of Protestant reformers and their later Puritan successors, his learning program reflects typical Calvinist preoccupations: "the Fall and its consequences, the importance of the earthly vocation, the sanctity of work, and the duty to transform society."^ [1]^
Notes
- ? The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science. Peter Harrison. Cambridge University Press, 2007. page 172
Further reading
- The Novum Organon-or A True Guide to the Interpretation of Nature. A New Translation by G.W. Kitchin (1855)
- The Works of Francis Bacon (1826)
- Advancement of Learning, and The New Atlantis (1913)
- Essays Civil and Moral, Advancement of Learning, Novum Organum, etc (1892)
- Advancement of Learning Francis Bacon, Joseph Devey. American Home Library, 1902.
- Francis Bacon: The Major Works. Francis Bacon, Brian Vickers. Oxford University Press, 2002
- Francis Bacon. Perez Zagorin. Princeton University Press, 1999.
- Theology and Science in the Thought of Francis Bacon. Steven Matthews. Ashgate Publishing, 2008.
External links
- "Saving Bacon" The Times Higher Education. 8 November 1996 (Essay on recent Francis Bacon Scholarship)