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In Our Time

Baconian Science

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.69.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2009

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Patricia Fara, Stephen Pumfrey and Rhodri Lewis join Melvyn Bragg to discuss the Jacobean lawyer, political fixer and alleged founder of modern science Francis Bacon.In the introduction to Thomas Spratt's History of the Royal Society, there is a poem about man called Francis Bacon which declares 'Bacon, like Moses, led us forth at last, The barren wilderness he past, Did on the very border stand Of the blest promis'd land, And from the mountain's top of his exalted wit, Saw it himself, and shew'd us it'.Francis Bacon was a lawyer and political schemer who climbed the greasy pole of Jacobean politics and then fell down it again. But he is most famous for developing an idea of how science should be done - a method that he hoped would slough off the husk of ancient thinking and usher in a new age. It is called Baconian Method and it has influenced and inspired scientists from Bacon's own time to the present day.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Thanks for downloading the In Our Time podcast. For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use

0:05.4

Please go to bbc.co.uk forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy the program

0:12.7

Hello, and in the introduction to Thomas Pratt's history of the raw society

0:16.6

There's a poem about Francis Bacon. It reads

0:20.0

Bacon like Moses a lettuce forth at last the barren wilderness he passed

0:24.8

Did on the very border stand of the blessed promised land and from the mountain top of his exalted wit

0:30.6

Saw it himself and showed us it

0:33.5

Francis Bacon was a lawyer an essayist and a political schema who climbed the greasy pole of Jacobian politics

0:39.2

Became Lord Chancellor and then fell down again

0:42.1

But his most famous for developing an idea how science should be done a method that he hope would slow off the husk of ancient thinking and usher in a new age

0:50.8

It's called bcconian method and it's influenced and inspired scientists from Bacon's own time to the present day

0:57.1

With me to discuss bcconian science is Stephen Pumpery senior lecturer in the history of science at the University of Lancaster

1:03.5

But Richard Farrer senior tutor at Claire College University of Cambridge and Roger Lewis fellow St Hughes College Oxford and University

1:10.2

Lecture in English

1:12.0

Stephen, can you introduce us to Francis Bacon?

1:15.6

The luminous writer and so on can you say it all hmm well as you said from 1660 onwards

1:21.1

He's been been remembered as a philosopher of science

1:23.4

But that really wasn't how he was thought of in his own time as you said primarily he was known as a careerist

1:29.0

politician and he was probably most famous in terms of writing for his his essays we do at about 1561 to

1:35.8

1620 boys. Yes, he

1:37.8

Much Elizabeth his career

1:39.5

So it doesn't really take off under Elizabeth, but under James the first from 1603 each of his death in 1626

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