Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was born January 22, 1561. His father was “Lord Keeper of the Royal Seal,” under Elizabeth I, something similar to the Secretary of the Treasury in the US President’s Cabinet today. When his father died early, he was left without an estate, and so went to study law.

At the ripe old age of 23, he was elected to Parliament, where he was a strong advocate of religious toleration, and his fortunes began to improve. In 1607, King James I made him Solicitor General; in 1613, Attorney General; and in 1617, Lord Keeper of the Royal Seal! The following year, the King made him a Baron and the Lord Chancellor -- basically the King’s right hand man.

His real love, however, was science and philosophy. His Novum Organum (1620) refined the art of logical thinking, and proposed a “new method” for science. Bacon suggested that we use induction -- working from facts to theory (instead of from theory, or the Bible, to “facts”). He was wary of hypotheses - which he felt were as likely to be superstition or wishful thinking than anything else - but in fact suggested what we would now call the testing of hypothesis in the form of a process of elimination of alternative explanations!

In 1621, soon after the King raised him to Viscount, the Parliament impeached him for taking bribes. He had indeed taken many bribes - but so had everyone else, so the impeachment was really a political slap at the King.

But, being out of political office allowed him to continue full time the science and philosophy he loved part time. He began a project, with the help of the King, called The Great Renewal, which was to be a review of all the sciences.

Basically, The Great Renewal involved purging ourselves, our intellects, of our biases, which he called idols. He named four:

1. Idols of the Tribe. The tribe he is referring to is us, the human tribe. So the idols of the tribe are our natural tendencies towards bias, such as reading our own wishes into what we suppose we see, looking for patterns or a purpose to everything, and so on.

2. Idols of the Cave. The cave is the little box we each live in as individuals. So the idols of the cave are the distortions and biases we have as individuals, such as those based on our peculiar backgrounds and educations, as well as the intellectual heroes we emulate.

3. Idols of the Marketplace. The marketplace is society, and the main threat to clear thinking from society is its use of language. The common uses of words are not necessarily fit for scientific and philosophical use, and “common sense” or the logic we presume we are using when we speak is not that logical. And words can exist that have references that do not exist - a great root of confusion.

4. Idols of the Theater. The theater refers to the showplaces of scientific ideas and theories -- journals and books, famous names and theories, particular scientific designs or methods that have won recognition - the appearances of truth! Bacon says we should take care not to idolize or dogmatize whatever theories are presently accepted, even if they are promoted by "authorities" in their field or appear to be accepted “universally.”

In 1624, he published The New Atlantis, a utopian fiction about an island in the South Pacific ruled by scientists. They lived in a university-like setting called Salomon’s House (after their founder), and were chosen for their position by tests of their merits - just like the philosopher-kings in Plato’s Republic. This may have been the model for England's Royal Society (of scientists).

In The New Atlantis, incidentally, he predicted quite a few modern inventions, including cars, planes, radio, and anesthetics.

Bacon died in 1626, at the age of 65, after catching cold while experimenting with preserving chicken by freezing. He is considered the father of British philosophy, and the intellectuals of France dedicated their monumental Encyclopédie to him in 1751.