Sir Francis Bacon

Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626). Of the Advancement and Proficiencie of Learning. London: Thomas Williams, 1674. (02411)

The English philosopher and statesman Sir Francis Bacon was one of the first to establish the scientific method, in which a hypothesis can be tested objectively by experimentation. Bacon began this work, first published in 1623, by refuting the argument that the pursuit of knowledge was humanity’s Original Sin, and that learning inclines the mind toward heresy and atheism. Paraphrasing Proverbs 20:27, Bacon argued that “The spirit of a man is as the Lamp of the God wherewith he searcheth the inwards of all secrets.”