This celebrated filEnglish philosopher, lawyer, writer and politician, He was born on January 22, 1561 and died on April 9, 1626 in his country, after having reached the position of Chancellor of England. As he had been distinguished by the government for his services to the British Crown, with the title of SIR, his name was Sir Francis Bacon Verulam, Viscount of St. Albans.
He was the youngest of Sir’s sons Nicholas bacon, who had been appointed by the queen Elizabeth I, at the time, guardian of the Great Seal. His mother, Sir Nicholas’ second wife, named Ann Cooke Bacon, was actually Sir Nicholas’s niece. Anthony Cooke, considered one of the most enlightened women of the time, with her command of five languages.
Even though there is no historical evidence to affirm it, it is said that in his early years he did not enjoy very good health, for which he was forced to take tutorials at home; when he was barely 13 years old, in 1573, he entered the Trinity College Cambrigde where he continued his studies until 1576, when he was accompanied by his brother Anthony.
Taking advantage of his stay at Cambridge, he allowed himself to study various sciences and based on his imponderable admiration for Aristotle, he concluded that the methodology and the results obtained were wrong, since philosophy needed a purpose and new methods to achieve this purpose and with That seed of the theory that would make him famous and consider himself his father, he dropped out of college. The empiricism formulated by him would exert a profound mark on the development of what is known as the scientific method.
The two Bacon brothers are appointed as attachés to Ambassador Sir Amyas Paulet in France, for which they entered what was called societate magistrorum on June 27, 1576. This beginning in politics was of great importance for the young Francis, who at this time was forced to carry out diplomatic commissions of great delicacy, due to the same political and social situation during the reign of Henry III and even when his place of residence was Poitiers, he went several times to Paris and other important French cities, which gave him a vision of the political situation in most European countries.
He returned to England in 1579 after the death of his father who failed to leave him a considerable inheritance, forcing Francis to dedicate himself to the profession of law, after studying law, literature and diplomacy, but precisely thanks to these studies he developed a brilliant political career, especially from the rise to power by James I of England in 1603, who appointed him as attorney general in 1613.
Continuing with his outstanding political career, he was appointed as Chancellor of England in 1618, but already in 1621 for intrigues and quarrels he was accused of corruption and mistreatment of his subordinates, accusations from which he came out very well. During the exercise of his political tasks, he managed to accumulate a significant financial fortune, which allowed him to retire to continue his studies in philosophy and science.
Reorganizing the method of scientific study, he realized that deductive reasoning stood out over inductive reasoning and proposed that by eliminating any preconceived idea of the world, it was possible to study the human being and his environment, making detailed and duly controlled observations and only making some cautious generalizations. According to Bacon, scientists can only accept arguments that can be proven by observation and experience, but above all by maintaining a skeptical attitude, which is the empirical method.
He died in the city of London in 1626 from complications caused by pneumonia.