Francis Bacon

England's Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was a historian, lawyer, essayist, scientist, philosopher, and statesman. So remarkable were his accomplishments that, for a while, a few historians even thought he might be the secret author of William Shakespeare's plays. His breadth of personal achievement characterized the ideal Renaissance Man, while his advocating of inductive reasoning and scientific observation characterized the Renaissance Age.

While Bacon's most celebrated work is the New Organon, which presents his scientific method for inquiry and experimentation, The Advancement of Learning, dedicated to England's King James I and excerpted below, is an impassioned plea for a new way of observing the world, a way that embodied the Renaissance attitude of seeking truth. Bacon rejects the Middle Ages notion that equated the seeking of scientific knowledge with the sin of pride, which compelled Adam and Eve to eat...