Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Was a Essay

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" From few data it launches itself into the construction of general principles. The principles then being regarded as true, deductively valid explanations were constructed and then protected against recalcitrant data in an ad hoc way." (McGreak 174)

Bacon was of the opinion that such theories were far too limited and limiting as they"...apply to a narrow range of particulars and have no observational consequences outside their original preserve." (McGreak 175) in other words, the older scientific method prevented the scientist or naturalist from making new and surprising discoveries. This is an insight that was to have great significance for the development of modern scientific methodology. Bacon therefore sought to use a more inductive form of reasoning in science which would "...discover the causally and thus explanatory relevant properties of nature." (McGreak 175)

Another importance facet of his views of science and methodology is to be found in Novum Organum, where he discusses that way that "idols" in scientific thought are developed and how they prevent and deter us from true insight into nature. There are four classes of 'idols' according to Bacon - for example the 'idols of the theater' which refers to various parameters or modes of thought that are the result of a dependence on false schools of thought.

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If fact much of bacons reputation as an innovative thinker rests on the 1620 publication of Novum organum or New Method.

Another related aspect of his thought that has deeply influenced modern science is the concept of 'active science." Science and the scientific method was seen by Bacon as being more experimental and should take into account how human activity and observation changes things. This was an extremely important concept that was to have a profound affect on the way that science and experimentation was implemented. This can be related to the "new method" in science that Bacon championed, which referred to a process"...whereby axioms are arrived at slowly and deliberately rather than by 'flying from particulars to the most general axioms' " (McGreak 176)

In conclusion, Bacon's philosophy has often been criticized by modern thinkers as being too mechanistic and for neglecting the role of the hypothesis in scientific methodology. However, if one bears in mind that he wrote in the Sixteenth and Seventieth Centuries it is remarkable that aspects of his work are still relevant today. In summary, we can conclude that his work was of great importance for the development of science and for the growth of an inclusive and more experimental methodology in the sciences......

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