Author: The author of this piece is Sir Francis Bacon. He was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, and author who lived from 1561-1626. He is credited with being an advocate of the scientific method through his very influential works.
Context: Sir Francis Bacon explains his struggles being a pioneer of a new way of thinking. He also explains that he continued to work for the future generations.
Summary: Sir Francis Bacon is explaining that all of the hard work he did throughout his life was to give the future generations more guidance in his field then he had. He wanted to pave the way for the thinkers of the future, even at the expense of the credibility of his name.
His main goal was to explain the failures of the artsy thinkers that
came before him. He is also explaining that men are thinking about
nature the wrong way and it is a miracle that nature does not give into
their incorrect assumptions. He then goes on to explain that nature
cannot be commanded, nature can only be obeyed. Human Knowledge and
human Power meet to become one and the ignorance it produces causes
operations to fail.
Key Quotation: "I have made a beginning of the work-a beginning, as I hope, not unimportant..." (37).
I think that you did a very good job with this post, Lauren! The summary describes well the main thoughts that Bacon included in this text, including his ideas of the fresh aspect of his work and his hopes for it to revolutionize 'modern' thought. You also did a good job of highlighting the key aspects of his ideas, including the focus on nature and human power vs knowledge. The quote was also fitting, especially since it is involved with the title of the work and sums up the main idea of Bacon sharing his new ideas with the world and hoping that they will be accepted as he knows that they are important.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the author bio, you mention that he published other important works; maybe you could have included the titles of some well-known works and their subjects? You could also have included some more information about the context the time period in which he wrote this text, to show how his thought differed from the main ideas of the time. While I did like the quote that you used, maybe you could have extended this one a bit or included another as well, but overall very well done!
It should also be noted that Bacon lived and worked during Stewart rule. While his scientific method promoted observation and experimentation, the political system was seeking to solidify and reassert its authority. Another quote to consider:
ReplyDelete"To the immediate and proper perception of the sense therefore I do not give much weight; but I contrive that the office of the sense shall be only to judge of the experiment, and that the experiment itself shall judge of the thing."