556 



Our Surroundings 



Bacon. Francis Bacon (Lord Bacon) was born in London, 

 England, in 1561. His father was Lord-keeper of the great seal 

 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and his mother is said to have 

 been a woman of fine talents. At the age of twelve he went to 

 Cambridge, where he was considered very studious, and gave 

 promise of a distinguished career. After leaving Cambridge he 

 continued his studies in France. 



On his return to England, Bacon studied law and was admitted 

 to the bar in 1582. At the age of twenty- three he was chosen 

 a member of Parliament and soon became one of the queen's 

 advisers. When James I. became king, Bacon was especially fav- 

 ored at court and in 1613 became attorney-general. He was 

 knighted and in 1618 became Lord High Chancellor of England, 



a most important office. 



Bacon's greatest service, 

 however, was not in the line of 

 politics. He was the originator 

 of the modern method of 

 scientific study. Observing 

 that students accepted con- 

 clusions of others with little 

 or no reasoning of their own, 

 he became convinced that a 

 method based on the careful 

 examination of things was the 

 proper way of acquiring ac- 

 curate knowledge. Accord- 

 ingly in later years he pro- 

 duced a remarkable treatise 

 known as the Novum Or- 

 ganum in which his new 

 method of study is set forth. It advocates the discovery of truth 

 by observations and experiments rather than by the acceptance of 

 statements on the authority of others. He died in 1626. 



Galileo. Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564. He was 

 the son of a musician. In his youth he studied music and paint- 

 ing as well as mathematics and the classics. He was especially 



Brown Brothers. 



FRANCIS BACON 



Originator of the Experimental Method. 



