Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was born in London, England on January 22. His life combined politics and philosophy. As a politician, Bacon became a prominent lawyer, judge, member of Parliament, and adviser to the British monarch during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) and King James I (1566–1625). He reached the peak of his political power in 1618, when he was appointed Lord Chancellor, the highest judge in England. He fell from power in 1621 when he was impeached by Parliament for accepting bribes in his judicial cases, although he insisted there was no evidence that his judgments had been unfairly biased by the gifts he received. He died in London on April 9.

The idea that human beings should use science and technology to conquer nature for human benefit was first elaborated in the seventeenth century by Bacon. He supported that idea with five kinds of arguments—philosophical, theological, ethical, methodological, and...