Book description
Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have
transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have
inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened,
outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and
destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great
thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook
civilization and helped make us who we are.
Francis Bacon's landmark writings on subjects ranging from anger and
ambition, marriage and money to envy and empire established him as the
founding father of modern scientific thinking, with his rejection of
superstition and his emphasis on proof and experiment, rational
enquiry and reasoned argument.
Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist, lawyer and statesman, was born
in London in 1561. He studied at Cambridge and was enrolled at Gray's
Inn in 1576. In 1584 he entered Parliament and was appointed
Solicitor-General in 1607 and eventually became Lord Chancellor in 1618.
In 1621 he was charged with bribery, fined and imprisoned in the Tower.
Following his release, he retired to his family home and spent his
remaining years in philosophical and literary work. His ambition was to
create a new system of philosophy to relace that of Aristotle, and he
has been justly acclaimed as an inspiration to later scientists,
rationalits and materialists. He died in 1626
