HackingTheUniverse

Francis Bacon was born in London, England in 1561 and while he was known as an author, a lawyer, a statesman and philosopher, he also is credited with creating a methodology for scientific inquiry.

Bacon’s primary work, the “Instauratio Magna” (Great Restoration), was never finished but was outlined in six parts to follow a biblical pattern:

1. Divisions of the Sciences
2. Directions concerning the Interpretation of Nature (Novum Organum)
3. Natural and Experimental History for the foundation of Philosophy
4. Ladder of Intellect
5. Anticipations of the New Philosophy (never written)
6. Active Science (never written)

PRECURSOR:
-0460 – Democritus
-0460 – Zeno (of Elea)
-0384 – Aristotle
1126 – ibn Rushd (Averroes)
1170 – Grosseteste
1214 – Bacon (Roger)
1473 – Copernicus
1493 – Paracelsus

CONCURRENT:
1509 – Telesio
1533 – Zabarella
1544 – Gilbert
1564 – Galileo
1578 – Harvey
1588 – Hobbes
1596 – Descartes

SUBSEQUENT:
1627 – Boyle
1632 – Locke
1642 – Newton
1711 – Hume
1743 – Jefferson